Former Russian Transport Minister Found Dead Hours After Dismissal

Russia’s former transport minister, Roman Starovoit, has been found dead just hours after his dismissal by President Vladimir Putin, authorities confirmed on Monday.

According to the Investigative Committee, Starovoit appeared to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Officials are working to determine the exact  of his death, which reportedly occurred “quite a while ago,” according to Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Defense Committee.

No official reason was given for Starovoit’s sudden dismissal, which was announced earlier on Monday. He was replaced by Deputy Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin.

Starovoit had only served as transport minister since May 2024, after nearly six years as governor of the Kursk region—a territory that briefly fell under Ukrainian control during a surprise offensive in August 2024. Although Moscow recently reclaimed most of the area, Kyiv maintains it still holds a small portion inside Russian territory.

His predecessor at the Transport Ministry, Aleksey Smirnov, was arrested in April on charges of embezzling state funds meant for fortification projects near the Ukrainian border. Russian outlet Kommersant reported that Starovoit was about to be named a defendant in the same corruption case.

When asked earlier on Monday whether Starovoit’s dismissal reflected a loss of confidence from the Kremlin, presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to confirm, stating, “A loss of trust is mentioned if there is a loss of trust. Such wording was not used [in the Kremlin decree].”

The case has raised questions over the extent of internal discontent and accountability within the Russian leadership amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.