I know everybody decries the degraded state of our political campaigns and the nasty mudslinging that looks to dominate our current presidential election, but kids, we
ain't got nothing on the Russians. Presidential candidate Ivan Rybkin is a former Yeltsin official who negotiated the end to the first Chechen war and the highest ranking official to criticize Putin after the current president restarted the conflict. He went missing last week, resurfacing in Kiev, and now says he will conduct his campaign from London out of fear for his safety.
He was contacted two weeks ago by a human-rights activist who offered to take him to a secret location in Ukraine to meet [Chechen president] Maskhadov. Suspicious but intrigued, Mr Rybkin said he flew to London last week to seek advice from Mr Maskhadov's representative, Akhmed Zakayev, who has political asylum in Britain. Mr Zakayev said he would need a week to check, but on his return to Moscow, Mr Rybkin was rung again by the go-between. He decided to take the risk, without Mr Zakayev's answer.
He took a train to Ukraine, and the go-between met him in Kiev. There he was taken to a flat. After being offered tea and sandwiches, he felt drowsy. Four days later he woke up in a different flat, where he was shown a compromising video of himself. Repeatedly declining to discuss the contents at yesterday's press conference, where he seemed close to tears, he said it was made by "horrible perverts".
Kinda makes American political dirty tricks seem quaint and charming by comparison.