Former Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovite committed suicide by shooting himself on Monday, the incident occurred a few hours after President Vladimir Putin removed him from the post. According to the Russian Investigation Committee, Starovite’s body was found with a bullet wound in his private car in Odintsovo district of Moscow. The committee has described suicide as the most possible cause of death.
Starovoite, who was the Transport Minister of Russia since May 2024, was dismissed by a President of Putin on Monday. There was no official cause of dismissal, but the Russian media reported that it may be associated with an investigation into the embezzlement of government funds allocated for defense fortifications in the Kursk region, where Starovite was working as the first governor.
Along with this, Russia attacked Ukraine with more than 100 drones, after which there was heavy chaos in the journey at Russian airports. Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov refused to comment on Starovite’s dismissal, only said that Putin has appointed his deputy Andrei Nikitin as the acting minister, who was the first Governor of the Novgorod region.
According to reports, Starovoite committed suicide in 2023 using an award gun from the Russian Interior Ministry. The incident took place amidst the challenges facing the transport sector in Russia and the ongoing conflict with Ukraine, in which hundreds of flights were canceled due to the threat of drone attacks on Russian airports.
