Why Putin fired Russian minister Roman Starovoit hours before he ‘died by suicide’

Russia’s former transport minister Roman Starovoit was found dead inside his car, only a few hours after President Vladimir Putin dismissed him from his post.

Officials in Russia said that he is believed to have taken his own life.

A criminal investigation has begun, and suicide is currently considered the most likely reason, according to Svetlana Petrenko, a spokesperson for Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s main criminal investigation body.

The Kremlin released an official order signed by Putin on Monday morning confirming Starovoit’s dismissal. News of his death surfaced soon after.

But who was Roman Starovoit? Why was he dismissed? And what do we know about the circumstances of his death?

Let’s take a look:

Who was Roman Starovoit?

Roman Starovoit was Russia’s transport minister until Putin fired him from the role on Monday.

Just hours after he was dismissed, Starovoit was found dead in his car near Moscow with a gunshot wound.

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Investigators said they believe he likely took his own life.

A pistol registered in his name was found close to his body, according to several Russian media reports that quoted law enforcement sources.

He was divorced and had two daughters.

Before taking charge as transport minister in May 2024, Starovoit had served nearly five years as the governor of the Kursk region.

As governor, he had overseen the building of defence structures along Kursk’s border with Ukraine, following Russia’s invasion.

But three months into his new job, Ukrainian forces launched a major attack, crossing into Kursk in what became the biggest foreign incursion into Russian territory since World War II.

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In that attack, Ukrainian troops overran Russian border guards and new army conscripts, capturing hundreds of them.

The Russian military said it regained full control of the border area in April, around nine months after it had been partially lost.

That same month, Alexei Smirnov, who succeeded Starovoit as Kursk’s governor and had earlier worked under him as deputy, was accused of stealing funds meant for defence projects. There were claims that the missing money had left Kursk more susceptible to the Ukrainian assault.

Russian media reported on Monday that Smirnov told investigators that Starovoit had also been involved in the alleged fraud.

Why was he fired?

The Kremlin did not explain why Roman Starovoit was removed from his role as transport minister, a position he had held since May 2024.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said his body was found with a gunshot wound inside a car in Odintsovo, a neighbourhood west of Moscow known for housing several members of the country’s elite.

When asked about the reason for his removal, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was not due to a “lack of trust,” but did not provide another explanation.

“A loss of trust is mentioned if there is a loss of trust. Such wording was not used [in the Kremlin decree],” Peskov told reporters.

Still, there is speculation that his dismissal may be linked to an ongoing corruption inquiry in the Kursk region, where he previously served as governor.

The investigation is looking into whether 19.4 billion roubles (over Rs 2,000 crores) meant for building border defences in Kursk in 2022 was misused or stolen.

Andrei Kartapolov, a former deputy defence minister and current chair of the defence committee in the lower house of parliament, told news outlet RTVI that Starovoit had taken his own life “quite a while ago.”

Notably, many Russian media outlets reported that he may have died before Putin’s decree on his dismissal was officially made public.

After his removal, Deputy Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin was named as the acting minister.

According to unnamed sources quoted by Russian newspaper Vedomosti, the decision to remove Starovoit had been taken “several months ago.”

Russia’s transport crisis

Starovoit’s exit came during a major disruption to the country’s transport system.

Russia’s Federal Agency for Air Transport said that over the weekend and into Monday, 485 flights were cancelled, 88 were diverted, and around 1,900 were delayed.

The agency blamed this on “external interference,” though it did not offer further details.

Meanwhile, Russia’s aviation industry has been struggling with a shortage of spare parts, and the national railways company is facing steep borrowing costs as high interest rates are used to fight rising inflation, worsened by the war.

At the same time, Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had intercepted more than 400 long-range strikes launched by Ukraine.

The attacks caused what Russian media described as a “transport collapse,” with images showing passengers stranded at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo and St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airports.

With inputs from agencies