Former Russian transport minister found dead after being dismissed this morning

Former Russian transport minister Roman Starovoit has been found dead on the day of his dismissal. Various Telegram channels are reporting, citing sources, that he killed himself.

Source: Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Telegram channels Shot and Mash, pro-Kremlin media outlet RIA Novosti

Details: Starovoit's death has been confirmed by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, who said the former minister's body was found with a gunshot wound in his car in Odintsovo, a Moscow suburb. Russian investigators say they are investigating the circumstances of his death.

Telegram channels are reporting that a firearm was found next to the body. The likely cause of Starovoit's suicide is thought to be a possible upcoming criminal case with respect to offences committed during the construction of fortifications in Kursk Oblast.

Mash reports that it was Starovoit who signed off on a decision by the region's operational headquarters that permitted the Kursk Oblast Development Corporation to spend RUB 19 billion (US$241 million) and select the subcontractors itself.

The investigation is also looking into Starovoit’s possible involvement in violations committed in relation to the procurement of medicines for hospitals in the oblast, and in a "failed transport reform" in Kursk which failed to repair tram lines or deliver new carriages.

Other Kursk officials had testified against Starovoit, including Alexei Smirnov, the former governor of Kursk Oblast, who has been arrested and charged with embezzling 1 billion roubles (US$12 million), Vladimir Lukin, former director general of the corporation, and Maxim Vasilyev, a former Kursk deputy governor who was involved in the construction business. Both Lukin and Vasilyev are currently in pre-trial custody.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin dismissed Starovoit on the morning of 7 July.

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