Black magic and hypnosis were two explanations offered for the mysterious vanishing act of Ivan Rybkin, a Russian presidential candidate, who disappeared five days ago in Moscow but reappeared safe and sound yesterday in Kiev.

Some called it a publicity stunt, others suspected the sinister hand of the security services, but Mr Rybkin's absence transported Russia's often-bizarre politics into the pages of a novel by Nikolai Gogol, the country's master of the absurd.