Vladimir Putin has a problem. He's forbidden from standing for a third consecutive presidential term by Russia's constitution. But he wants to retain at least the option of returning to power after he steps down. The solution? To find someone reliable to serve as a caretaker president until Putin can stage a triumphant comeback. That person might be newly-appointed prime minister Viktor Zubkov, or it could be someone else from Putin's inner circle. By all accounts, Putin himself hasn't made up his mind.

But, as Yulia Latynina points out in a must-read commentary in today's Moscow Times, things arent quite so simple in the "modern-day Mordor" of Moscow. The orcs of Putin's Kremlin are slavishly loyal to their leader because he guarantees their vast fortunes. But none of them can really be guaranteed to remain loyal to their old boss once he removes that magic Ring of Power and transfers it to another. As any Tolkien fan will know, the Ring confers absolute power on its wearer - but that power quickly takes over the wearer's soul, and causes him to resist relinquishing his Precious with all his might.