Creator of Russia’s Sputnik Covid vaccine strangled to death with belt in Moscow apartment in latest mystery murder

ONE of the creators of Russia’s Covid vaccine has been found brutally strangled to death in his Moscow apartment, in the latest mystery murder surrounding the country’s elite. Andrey Botikov, a top Russian scientist who developed the Sputnik V vaccine, was reportedly murdered with a belt during an altercation with an intruder in his home. Leading Russian scientist Andrey Botikov has been found murdered His body was found at his home in Moscow on Thursday, Russian media reported. The Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR) has now opened a murder investigation into the death. A 29-year-old man has been arrested and charged with killing the leading virologist during a row over money. In a statement, the ICR didn’t name Botikov, but said investigators had identified and located a suspect “in the shortest possible time”. The ICR went on: “During the interrogation, he admitted his guilt, he was charged. “Previously, the defendant was prosecuted for committing a serious crime.” Botikov had worked as a virologist at the Gamaleya National Research Center since 2014, helping create Russia’s Sputnik V Covid vaccine.