Fired Russian transport minister found dead in likely suicide hours after dismissal

Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit has been found dead hours after being dismissed from his post by President Vladimir Putin. Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed on Monday that Starovoit’s body was found in a private car in Moscow Region with a gunshot wound. “The main version under consideration is suicide,” spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko stated.

Before becoming transport minister, Starovoit served as governor of Kursk Region. An RT source said an investigation against him was set to begin for allegedly embezzling funds for defense construction in the region from 2022 to 2024, when he was in charge. The source claimed that Starovoit could have been detained by investigators on Monday evening and brought in for questioning, facing charges of multimillion-ruble theft.

Ukraine launched a large-scale incursion into Kursk Region last August, in what Kiev officials touted as a blow to Russia. However, Russian forces quickly turned the tide, and Ukrainian troops were fully expelled in late April.

Starovoit was replaced by his former deputy, Andrey Nikitin, as acting transport minister. Nikitin, the former governor of Novgorod Region, was appointed deputy transport minister in February