A prominent Russian scientist working on a COVID-19 vaccine was found dead with a stab wound, according to news reports, after being dumped out of his window in St. Petersburg.
According to the Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, Alexander “Sasha” Kagansky, 45, was in his underwear when he fell dead from his 14th-floor apartment.
The scientist also sustained a stab wound, police said.
Police believe there was a scuffle before Kagansky fell from the building, reports said.
Russian police say they are investigating Kagansky’s death as a possible murder and questioning a 45-year-old man as a possible suspect, e2news.com said.
Best known for his work in the field of cancer research, Kagansky was an assistant professor in Vladivostok and had worked in Edinburgh, Scotland for 13 years until 2017, the outlet said.
Most recently he worked as director of the Center for Genomic and Regenerative Medicine at the Russian Federal University of the Far East.
He was developing a vaccine against the coronavirus, e2news said.
Kagansky’s body was found by a neighbor on Zamshin Street, the report said.