Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced doctors across the country would begin phase one trials of an experimental version of the Sputnik coronavirus vaccine on thousands of Alexei Navalny supporters.
"We are confident the new vaccine will succeed in eliminating this scourge from our nation," Putin said from Moscow.
He expects production to ramp up before phase one trials are complete in order to quickly inject the 17,148,280 people who voted for competing candidates in the March 2018 presidential election.
Navalny, a prominent Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist, could not be reached for comment from his jail cell.
