Russian transport minister fired by Vladimir Putin ‘dies by suicide’

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Russia’s state investigative authority said on Monday that the country’s transport minister Roman Starovoyt, 53, had died from a suspected suicide, on the same day he was fired by President Vladimir Putin.

Several Telegram channels with close ties to the Russian security services reported that Starovoyt, a former head of the Ukraine-bordering Kursk region, shot himself in his Tesla Model X, in a town west of Moscow.

The Investigative Committee said the body was found inside the car, but several Telegram channels and a reporter at the scene from a Russian business outlet claimed it was discovered in nearby bushes, several metres from the vehicle.

Starovoyt’s death came amid a corruption probe into the construction of defensive fortifications in Kursk, which he governed until May 2024.

It would mark the first suicide of a senior Russian official in years, and the first to come amid scrutiny over decisions made during the war in Ukraine.

“This is the first suicide [of an official at this level] in Putin’s Russia and a stark sign that the highest-ranking figures are unable to withstand the pressure of the system and the absence of an exit out of it, except for death,” said Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin.

“The harsh prison sentences for other officials accused of corruption have fuelled comparisons with the Stalinist purges of 1937. Fear is widespread,” she added.

Initial reports of Starovoyt’s apparent suicide came just hours after Putin formally dismissed him from his ministerial post on Monday morning, though it was unclear whether he had died before or after the decree was signed.

On Sunday, Starovoyt chaired a meeting about an ammonia leak from a tanker at the Russian port of Ust-Luga, Russia’s transport ministry said that day, without providing any photos or videos from the meeting.

However, several Telegram channels and media outlets, citing unnamed sources in law enforcement, reported that he had died on Saturday or overnight between July 5 and 6.

Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma’s defence committee, also said the death had occurred “some time ago”.

A criminal case has been opened over alleged embezzlement linked to the construction of defensive fortifications in the Kursk region, which was under partial Ukrainian control for six months until March 2025.

It was the first time foreign forces had taken over Russia’s territory since the second world war. Locals have criticised the lack of preparation for the attack and the failed evacuation effort.

Starovoyt’s successor as governor of the Kursk region, along with his deputy, have been arrested as part of the investigation and accused of embezzling at least Rbs1bn ($12.7mn) in state funds allocated for the construction.

Several Russian media outlets and Telegram channels reported that Starovoyt was under investigation for possible involvement in the case.

Starovoyt’s death also comes as Ukrainian drone attacks have caused chaos at Russia’s main airports, including those in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Almost 500 flights have been cancelled and almost 2,000 delayed since Saturday, according to Rosaviatsia, Russia’s aviation authority.

Such disruptions have become increasingly frequent in recent months, with some airports forced to shut down dozens of times since early spring.

Putin on Monday appointed Andrei Nikitin as acting transport minister. A former governor of the Novgorod region in central Russia, Nikitin was made deputy transport minister in February.