Russia’s transport minister and former governor of Kursk region died from gunshot wounds on Monday hours after being sacked by President Vladimir Putin.
Ex-minister Roman Starovoit was found dead in his car at his apartment in Odintsovo district, a suburb of capital Moscow, Russian Investigative Committee reported. The committee spokesperson said the death was caused by suicide, according to preliminary investigation. The decree announcing Starovoit’s dismissal was earlier published on the Kremlin’s website, although no reason behind the decision was revealed. Russian media reported that Starovoit has been implicated in embezzlement case involving the fortification work being carried out in Russia’s Kursk region where Ukrainian army launched incursion last year and was possibly facing an arrest. Starovoit’s deputy and his predecessor in the Kursk governor role, Alexei Smirnov, was arrested in the same case in April this year.
Starovoit’s dismissal came after disruption of work in key Russian airports over the weekend and into Monday, following massive Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow region. According to Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport, over 400 flights were cancelled, 88 were diverted and around 2,000 were delayed during the same period. The agency said “outside interferences” were behind the disruption of multi-day air travel. However, The Russian Defence Ministry said it intercepted over 400 Ukrainian long-range strikes during the weekend.
