Moscow: Russian’s Transport minister Roman Starovoyt was found dead on Monday, hours after being sacked by President Vladimir Putin.
Starovoyt shot himself in a Moscow suburb after his dismissal was announced, AFP quoted Russian news agencies as saying. Russian authorities said his body was found in his car with a gunshot wound.
It was a case of suicide, reports said citing Russia’s Investigative Committee.
The 53-year-old Starovoyt was appointed Russia’s Transport minister in May 2024. He had previously served as Governor of the Kursk region, where Russia had battled a Ukrainian incursion.
“Today, the body of former Transport Minister Roman Starovoyt was found in his private car with a gunshot wound in the Odintsovo district,” the Investigative Committee said in a statement without specifying any reason.
Earlier in the day, Starovoyt was fired in a Presidential decree. “Roman Starovoyt was relieved of the post of Minister of Transport,” the statement said.
Starovoyt’s ouster followed a weekend of chaos and uncertainty as hundreds of flights across the country were grounded during the busy vacation season due to the threat of attacks from Ukraine.
Russian state media also reported the firing was linked to corruption in Kursk region and a possible criminal case on the embezzlement of funds meant for fortifications in the border region.
After the minister’s dismissal, Putin met with one of Starovoyt’s deputies, Andrei Nikitin, to appoint him as acting Transport minister.
