Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed his Transport Minister on Monday following extensive flight disruptions over the weekend. Hours later, Roman Starovoit was found dead with a gunshot wound in his personal car — an apparent suicide. Some Russian media outlets suggested that his death was linked to an alleged corruption probe and a criminal investigation remains underway.
According to the Russian Investigative Committee, Starovoit was found with a gunshot wound in his car parked in Odintsovo. A gun previously presented to him as an official gift was reportedly found next to his body. The vehicle had been parked in a elite neighborhood just west of the capital city when he was found on Monday afternoon. An initial statement from the investigative committee did not provide much details beyond the discovery of his body “with a gunshot wound in his personal car”.
Starovoyt had worked as the Russian transport minister since May 2024 after serving as governor in the Kursk region. He was fired in a presidential decree earlier in the day — with the Kremlin refusing to provide an explanation. His dismissal also came after a weekend of travel chaos when airports grounded hundreds of flights during the busy vacation season due to the threat of attacks from Kyiv.
Corruption allegations
Local media reports suggest that his dismissal may have been linked to an investigation into the embezzlement of state funds allocated for building fortifications in the Kursk region. This has also been cited as a possible reason for why Russian defensive lines failed to stem a surprise incursion from Ukraine in August 2024.The stunning attack had also seen hundreds being taken prisoner as mechanized units from Kyiv rapidly overwhelmed the lightly armed Russian border guards and inexperienced army conscripts. The incursion was a humiliating blow to the Kremlin — the first time the country’s territory was occupied by an invader since World War II.
Starovoit was last seen in public on Sunday morning — when an official video from the ministry’s situation room featured him receiving reports from officials. Speculation remains rife that he may have taken his life even before the public announcement from Putin. Andrei Kartapolov, a former deputy defense minister who heads a defense committee in the lower house of parliament, told news outlet RTVI that Starovoit killed himself “quite a while ago”. Some Russian media platforms have also alleged that the ousted lawmaker may have taken his life before the publication of Putin’s decree firing him.