Andrey Botikov, the top Russian scientist who developed the Sputnik Covid vaccine, was found dead in his Moscow apartment on Thursday. He was strangled to death.
Suspect Alexei Zmanovsky has reportedly served time in prison for sex crimes.
An alleged gay prostitute strangled one of the creators of the Sputnik V vaccine in Moscow. Andrey Botykov apparently asked for suffocation, but it was wrong.
Alexei Zmanovsky, who pleaded guilty, has been remanded in custody until May. pic.twitter.com/TBfiGuO3io
— Russia Unplugged (@UnpluggedRus) March 3, 2023
The Daily Mail reported:
A Russian investigative committee has launched a murder investigation after a top scientist was found dead in his Moscow apartment yesterday.
In 2020, Andrey Botykov, who was one of the 18 scientists who worked on the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, was identified as the man strangled to death with a belt in northwest Moscow.
It was earlier reported that he survived the encounter after an intruder barged into his house and started rowing with him for money.
But a 29-year-old man has been arrested and charged with the scientist’s murder.
Russia’s investigative committee said they found the suspect ‘in a very short time’ after he tried to flee the scene.
He said that he confessed during interrogation.
The panel reported that the respondent had already been tried for committing another ‘serious’ offence.
Russian media reported that the suspect, identified as Alexei Z, had spent 10 years in prison for allegedly providing sex services.
Andrey Botykov was a senior researcher at the National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology.
