He claims a prominent Russian biologist may have been involved in research into the Covid-19 vaccine in Britain when it fell 14 floors until his death.
Alexander ‘Sasha’ Kagansky, 45, best known for his work in the fight against cancer and who had long-standing relationships with the University of Edinburgh, was also reported to have been in ‘sedatives’ when he died in Saint Petersburg.
The cancer researcher and microbiologist was reportedly stabbed when he fell with only the underwear of a tall St. Petersburg building.
The Izvestia newspaper reported that Kagansky was “actively involved in the development of a coronavirus vaccine” in an Edinburgh laboratory, but gave no further details.
It is the latest in a series of mysterious deaths in Russia that affect people with coronavirus connections who fall through the windows.
Russian biologist Alexander Kagansky (pictured) was stabbed when he fell with only the underwear of a tall building in St. Petersburg, reports say
A “friend” initially arrested as a potential murder suspect in Kagansky’s death has been released by Russian police after passing a polygraph test.
The globetrotting scientist is believed to have divided his time between Scotland, where he had family, St. Petersburg, where he died, and Vladivostok on the Pacific coast of Russia, where he was an assistant professor.
He was reported to have an “exhausting schedule.”
Other Russian reports also indicated that he was working on a vaccine, but none gave clear details, and Izvestia only suggested that this investigation be conducted in the UK.
Igor Ivanov, 45, a “childhood friend” who was briefly arrested, told police Kagansky grabbed sedatives and stabbed himself in the abdomen before suddenly running to a balcony and jump.
“Ivanov’s version was checked – and approved by the polygraph,” Mash’s online media, which has close ties to law enforcement, reported.
No signs of a fight were found. Evalar sedative melatonin was found on the floor, used by jet lag patients to adjust the body’s sleep program.
It is described as an “adaptogenic, sedative and hypnotic effect”.
Ivanov also told police the scientist had suffered problems with alcohol and psychoactive substances, according to reports.
The men had been celebrating Ivanov’s birthday the day before his death.
The St. Petersburg building where the Russian scientist is said to have died
Kagansky (pictured) was reportedly involved in research into the Covid-19 vaccine in Britain when it fell 14 floors until his death.
Russia’s Investigative Committee opened an investigation into the murder, which remains in place despite the release of the potential suspect.
Kagansky had worked for 13 years in Edinburgh before becoming head of the Center for Regenerative Genomic Medicine at the Federal University of the Far East in Vladivostok.
However, Russian reports say he maintained academic ties in Edinburgh, where his family lived.
Between 2005 and 2012, he worked at the Wellcome Trust Center for Cell Biology, Edinburgh, as a postdoctoral researcher and then a senior researcher.
He had recently received a Russian grant to study new ways to diagnose and treat malignant brain tumors.
He was an advocate of research on the uses of herbs and mushrooms as possible solutions to treat cancers.
He had previously studied and worked in the US.
In 1991, when the USSR collapsed, he was the first Russian delegate to the European Youth Parliament. He was also a member of the Young Academy of Scotland.
The death follows six Russians who fell to their deaths from hospital windows earlier this year.
Police Lt. Col. Natalya Shcherbakova (pictured), 45, died after a 50-foot fall on May 30, and her family believed the drugs used to treat the coronavirus infection could have altered his mood
Yelena Nepomnyashchaya (left) and Natalya Lebedeva (right) – also fell deadly from hospital windows. Nepomnyashchaya had complained about the shortage of PPE while Lebedeva was being treated by Covid-19
Alexander Shulepov (left) also suffered serious head injuries after falling from a hospital window after criticizing the Russian government’s response to the coronavirus
Five of the victims were being treated for coronavirus, while one victim was a doctor who had complained of PPE shortages. Another doctor fell from a hospital window, but survived and remains in hospital with head injuries.
Nadezhda Salkova, 74, fell in June from a window on the fourth floor of Moscow’s Semashko Hospital, where she was undergoing coronavirus treatment.
She had been alone in a hospital room where she had been treated for nearly three weeks and police investigated the circumstances of her 40-foot fall.
Ten days earlier, a 68-year-old man suffering from Covid-19 rushed to his death from a window in the intensive care unit of the Yaroslavl Veterans Hospital.
A 49-year-old man with confirmed coronavirus has also been found to have fallen 60 meters from the window of a Moscow hospital that was reassigned to treat pandemic victims.
The family of Lt. Col. Natalya Shcherbakova, 45, who died after a 50-foot fall on May 30, believes the drugs used to treat the coronavirus may have altered her mood.
She and her widower Konstantin were both police forensic experts, and her distressed family has called for the drugs and their mind-altering impact to be checked.
Dr. Yelena Nepomnyashchaya, 47, the mother of two children from a medical family, suffered fatal injuries after falling 50 meters from a window at her Krasnoyarsk hospital.
She fell shortly after complaining of an “acute shortage” of PPE and died on May 1, the only victim not known to suffer from coronavirus.
Dr. Natalya Lebedeva, 48, was hospitalized with Covid-19 when she fell 60 feet until her death on April 24 after she was ‘unfairly blamed’ for the spread of the coronavirus at her Star clinic. City, near Moscow, the training center of cosmonauts.
Dr. Alexander Shulepov, 37, remains in hospital with head injuries after falling from a second-floor window that suffered skull fractures.
He was diagnosed with Covid-19 and had complained about the lack of personal protective equipment and that he had been worked despite suffering from the virus.
His wife Maria Shulepova was banned from speaking to the media about the incident.