Russian Minister Roman Starovoyt Found Dead After Being Dismissed by Putin

(Patria) - Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoyt, recently dismissed from his post by President Vladimir Putin, was found dead in a car with a gunshot wound, the Central Investigative Committee in Moscow announced.

- The circumstances of the incident are currently under investigation. The main theory is suicide - said Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman for the investigative body.

Russian media also reported that the 53-year-old politician Roman Starovoyt allegedly shot himself in his apartment in Odintsovo, Moscow Region.

A decree published earlier today in Moscow does not specify the reasons why Starovoyt, the former governor of the western Russian region of Kursk, who was appointed transport minister in May last year, is leaving his current post.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also did not provide a reason.

Starovoyt's deputy Andrei Nikitin has been appointed acting transport minister, while Starovoyt's successor as governor of the Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, has been detained on suspicion of fraud.

Smirnov was appointed governor of Kursk in May 2024, but was forced to resign in December following an invasion by Ukrainian military forces.

The case opened against Smirnov is based on the fact that, allegedly, funds for the construction of fortifications on the border with Ukraine were not spent appropriately.