Sputnik V Vaccine Researcher, Andrey Botikov, has been reportedly killed after a quarrel in Moscow

The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a criminal case into the murder of Andrey Botikov, a senior researcher at the National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology named after N.F. Gamaleya, who was involved in the creation of the Sputnik V vaccine. According to law enforcement agencies, Botikov was reportedly killed in the north-west of Moscow.

In a statement, the Moscow Investigative Committee reported that the Khoroshevsky Interdistrict Investigation Department had initiated a criminal case for murder under Part 1 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The investigation revealed that the 47-year-old owner of an apartment on Rogova Street in Moscow was strangled with a belt by a 29-year-old man during a quarrel on March 2. The attacker fled the scene but was quickly located and admitted to the crime during interrogation. The accused had previously been prosecuted for committing a serious crime, and the investigation plans to seek detention as a measure of restraint in the near future.