The Russian authorities have opened up a murder investigation after a top scientist who worked on the development of Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines was found dead in his Moscow apartment on Friday.
47-year-old Andrey Botikov was one of the 18 scientists who worked on the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in 2020 at the Gamaleya National Research Center.
He was found strangled by a belt at his Rogova Street home on March 2, according to local news reports.
Earlier, it was suggested that he had survived the attack after an intruder broke into his home and started rowing with him over money.
However, the Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR) has now opened a probe into the matter and arrested a 29-year-old man who is alleged to have killed the scientist with the belt over a disagreement.
ICR’s Moscow division in a statement released informed that a criminal investigation was ongoing and that the assailant was nabbed ‘in the shortest possible time’.
‘During the interrogation, he admitted his guilt, he was charged. Previously, the defendant was prosecuted for committing a serious crime,’ read the statement.
According to Russian media, the suspect’s name is Alexei Z and he has previously spent 10 years behind the bars for providing sex services.
Botikov was a celebrated scientist in the country and was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland for his work on the vaccine.
Andrey Botikov was a senior researcher at the National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology.
He had previously worked at the Russian State Collection of Viruses D.I. Ivanovsky Institute of Virology as a senior scientist.
He was awarded an Order of Merit for the Fatherland for his work on the Sputnik V vaccine.
His death comes in the backdrop of Russian General Vladimir Makarov allegedly committing suicide at his country home last month.
