The introduction of Anglo-American high performance fighters served as incentive for Soviets, too. The two types they evaluated in mid 1942 - Mustang and Spitfire VIII - were found to have almost 100 km/h speed advantage vs. current Soviet types, with double the range firepower (Spit only). So they too decided to try out the laminar-flow wing for next generation of their fighters.
The 1st type going to production was from Yakovlyev OKB. Their latest Yak-7D was offering good range, but performance was lacking vs. German opposition. The new wing was almost the same as Mustang's, but cropped, with wing area of mere 200 ft^2. The resulting Yak-7DI (later named Yak-9) have had the same range as the predecessor, while being only slightly slower than German fighters. 1st combats occurred in late 1943.
Yakovlyev engineers took the advantage of designing 'new' wing and have made also the undercarriage legs slightly longer, so Ash-82 engine with regular prop could've been mounted. The Ash-82F on a Yak provided finally a level of performance Soviet needed, starting in 1944.