Former Russian Defense Minister Roman Starovoit has committed suicide after being dismissed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Monday, his body was found inside a car in the suburban area of Odintsovo, near Moscow.On Monday morning, President Putin issued a presidential decree dismissing Roman Starovoit from the central cabinet. The decree did not mention the specific reason for his dismissal.A few hours after issuing the decree, Putin announced Deputy Transport Minister Andrey Sergeyevich Nikitin as the acting transport minister.Meanwhile, shortly after Nikitin became acting minister, the bullet-riddled body of former transport minister Roman Starovoit was recovered from a house in Moscow’s suburban area. After an initial investigation, a Moscow police officer told AFP that, based on evidence collected from the scene, it appeared that Starovoit had committed suicide.Later, Russia’s central investigative agency, the FSB, confirmed the same information in a statement. The statement said, “Today, the dead body of former transport minister Roman Starovoit was recovered from a car in the Odintsovo area. Bullet wounds were found on his body. It is suspected that he committed suicide.”Roman Starovoit, 53, became Russia’s central transport minister in May 2024. Prior to that, he was the governor of Kursk, a province bordering Ukraine.Following Starovoit’s death, extensive discussions began on Russian social media and news outlets. Many speculated that he might have been involved in corruption during his tenure as Kursk’s governor, which could have led to President Putin losing trust in him and subsequently dismissing him.When journalists contacted Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov to verify these rumors, he said, “His dismissal had nothing to do with a loss of the president’s confidence.”
