A Russian scientist who was given a presidential award for helping create Russia’s vaccine against COVID-19 was strangled while arguing with a prostitute at his home, local officials say. Russia’s Investigative Committee said 47-year-old Andrey Botikov, a senior researcher at the Gamaleya Institute, was strangled with a belt during an argument at his Moscow apartment on Thursday. The suspect, a 29-year-old man, fled the scene but was later arrested.