Russia’s former transport minister has died from a gunshot wound just hours after Vladimir Putin sacked him.
The body of Roman Starovoit, the ex-minister, was found in his car in a Moscow suburb. He appeared to have killed himself, Russia’s investigative committee said in a statement.
The Kremlin published an order signed by Putin to remove Starovoit from his position as transport minister on Monday morning, shortly before news of his death was made public. No reason was given for his dismissal in the order, which was dated 7 July at 9.15am.
But Russian media, including the local edition of Forbes, have reported that Starovoit may have died as early as Friday evening, before the order to dismiss him was published. The timeline of his death and dismissal has not been confirmed by investigators. A member of the State Duma, Andrei Kartapolov, told Russian journalists that Starovoit had died “quite long ago”.
Starovoit was a prominent official in the Putin government who had previously served from 2018 to 2024 as the governor of the Kursk region, where he oversaw the construction of defensive fortifications for the region on the border with Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
The subsequent governor was arrested in a corruption scandal after investigators claimed that more than 1bn roubles (nearly £10m) had been embezzled from federal funds designated to protect the region from a potential incursion by Ukrainian forces.
Kommersant, a leading Russian business newspaper, reported that other Kursk officials targeted in the embezzlement case had given testimony against Starovoit, indicating that he may also have faced scrutiny or arrest. Top officials who are dismissed from the Russian government can often face criminal charges as they lose the political backing that previously may have protected them from inquiries into their business or political dealings.
Part of the Kursk region was occupied by Ukraine’s army last August in a counteroffensive that was deeply embarrassing for the Kremlin, which has sought to keep the war out of Russia and minimise the impact of the conflict on Russian citizens.
Kommersant reported that Starovoit was found with a Makarov pistol that he had been awarded in 2003 for his service “ensuring public safety” in his role as the governor of the Kursk region.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, denied that Starovoit’s sacking was due to a “lack of trust” but did not answer questions on why he had been dismissed.
Also on Monday, a senior official at Russia’s federal roads agency, Andrei Korneichuk, died at work of an apparent heart attack. There was no clear connection between the two transport officials’ deaths.
The Kremlin announced Starovoit’s dismissal after hundreds of flights were cancelled across Russia due to a mass disruption caused by Ukrainian drone attacks over the weekend.
As of Monday, nearly 500 flights had been cancelled in Russia and another 1,500 were delayed, according to official statistics. Russia and Ukraine struck each other with hundreds of long-range drones on Sunday as Ukraine said it would scale up drone production in collaboration with western countries. Russia’s defence ministry claimed to have shot down more than 150 long-range drones over the weekend.
The strikes on Russia led to what local media described as a “transport collapse”, with photos of travellers stranded in transport hubs including Moscow’s Sheremetyevo and St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airports.
