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Putin Dismisses Transport Minister Starovoit, Who Dies in Apparent Suicide

Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal probe provisionally ruling his death a suicide under unexplained circumstances

Russian President Vladimir Putin is pictured meeting Roman Starovoit on January 30, 2025 in the Kremlin.
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Russian Minister of Transport Roman Starovoit attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, Russia January 30, 2025. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
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Overview

  • President Vladimir Putin’s July 7 decree relieved Roman Starovoit of his duties without offering any official rationale for the abrupt change
  • Hours after the dismissal, Starovoit was found with a gunshot wound in his car in the Odintsovo district west of Moscow
  • Investigators have launched a criminal inquiry and preliminarily determined that suicide is the most likely cause of death
  • Andrei Nikitin, Starovoit’s deputy and former governor of the Novgorod region, was immediately named acting transport minister
  • Speculation has linked Starovoit’s removal to alleged embezzlement and security lapses from his five-year tenure as governor of the Kursk region