Russia's transportation minister found dead in what officials say was an
apparent suicide
[July 08, 2025]
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian's transport minister was found dead from a gunshot
wound in an apparent suicide, investigators said Monday — news that
broke hours after the Kremlin announced he had been dismissed by
President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin did not give a reason for the firing of Roman Starovoit, who
served as transport minister since May 2024, and it was unclear when
exactly he died and whether it was related to an investigation into
alleged corruption, as some Russian media suggested.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, the top criminal investigation agency,
said the body of Starovoit, 53, was found with a gunshot wound in his
car parked in Odintsovo, a neighborhood just west of the capital where
many members of Russia's elite live. A gun previously presented to him
as an official gift was reportedly found next to his body.
A criminal probe was launched into the death, and investigators saw
suicide as the most likely cause, according to committee's spokesperson
Svetlana Petrenko, who did not say when Starovoit died.
Law enforcement agents were seen carrying Starovoit's body from the site
Monday evening.
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,” and some Russian media
alleged that he may have taken his life before the publication of
Putin's decree firing him. Starovoit was last seen in public Sunday
morning, when an official video from the ministry's situation room
featured him receiving reports from officials.
Speculation swirls over reasons for Starovoit's dismissal
Russian media have reported that Starovoit's dismissal could have been
linked to an investigation into the embezzlement of state funds
allocated for building fortifications in the Kursk region, where he
served as governor before becoming transportation minister.
The alleged embezzlement has been cited as one of the reasons for
deficiencies in Russia's defensive lines that failed to stem a surprise
Ukrainian incursion in the region launched in August 2024. In the
stunning attack, Ukraine's battle-hardened mechanized units quickly
overwhelmed lightly armed Russian border guards and inexperienced army
conscripts. Hundreds were taken prisoner.
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.
The Russian military had announced its troops had fully reclaimed the
border territory in April — nearly nine months after losing chunks of
the region.
Starovoit's successor as Kursk governor, Alexei Smirnov, stepped down in
December and was arrested on embezzlement charges in April. Some Russian
media have alleged that Starovoit also could have faced charges as part
of the investigation.
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Transport Minister Roman Starovoit attends a meeting with Russian
President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday,
Jan. 30, 2025. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via
AP, file)
His dismissal also followed a weekend of travel chaos as Russian
airports were forced to ground hundreds of flights due to Ukrainian
drone attacks. Most commentators said, however, that the air traffic
disruptions have become customary amid frequent Ukrainian drone
raids and were unlikely to have triggered his dismissal.
Shortly after Putin’s decree on Starovoit was published, Andrei
Korneichuk, an official with a state railways agency under his
ministry, collapsed and died during a business meeting, Russian news
reports said. They said he died of an apparent heart attack.
Other high-level corruption cases pressed
An official order releasing Starovoit from his post was published on
the Kremlin’s website Monday morning without giving a reason for his
dismissal.
Shortly before the news of Starovoit's death broke, Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised Starovoit’s replacement, Andrei
Nikitin, and refused to comment on the reasons behind the move.
Russian authorities have investigated a slew of cases of high-level
corruption that was widely blamed for military setbacks in Ukraine.
On Monday, Khalil Arslanov, a former deputy chief of the military's
General Staff, was convicted on corruption charges and sentenced to
17 years in prison. Arslanov is a former member of the military
brass close to former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Several of
them were targeted in a far-ranging probe into alleged military
graft.
Last week, Shoigu's former deputy, Timur Ivanov, was convicted on
charges of embezzlement and money laundering and handed a 13-year
prison sentence.
Shoigu, a veteran official with personal ties to Putin, survived the
purges of his inner circle and was given the high-profile post of
secretary of Russia’s Security Council.
In another move Monday, the Investigative Committee announced the
arrest of Viktor Strigunov, the former first deputy chief of the
National Guard. It said Strigunov was charged with corruption and
abuse of office.
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