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3d ago

Criminal Probe Launched Into Sacked Transport Minister’s Disputed Death

Investigators are treating Starovoit’s death as a suicide despite conflicting accounts of his location at death, with unverified reports of torture fueling continued doubt.

A man carries a portrait of Roman Starovoit, the former transport minister who died in an apparent suicide after his dismissal while people line up to his bid farewell, at the morgue of the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo)
Grigory Melkonyants stands inside an enclosure for defendants during a court hearing in Moscow, Russia on May 14.
People line up to bid farewell to Roman Starovoit, the former transport minister who died in apparent suicide after his dismissal, at the morgue of the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo)
FILE - Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit attends a meeting in Mineralnye Vody, Russia, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (Dmitry Astakhov, Sputnik, Government Pool Photo via AP)

Overview

  • The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation and officially classifies Roman Starovoit’s gunshot death on July 7 as an apparent suicide.
  • Russian media reports conflict over whether his body was found inside his car in the Odintsovo district or in nearby bushes next to his Tesla, and no official time of death has been released.
  • Independent outlets and Telegram channels have reported unverified signs of torture on his body and suggested he may have died before his dismissal order was issued.
  • His death comes during a Kremlin anti-corruption drive that has seen senior military and civilian officials convicted in connection with alleged embezzlement tied to last year’s Kursk border incursion.
  • Observers note parallels to Soviet-era purges as a series of unexplained deaths among Russia’s ruling elite stokes fears of a narrowing safe zone for insiders.