Russian Minister Dies Hours After Getting Fired By Putin

According to Saednews, Starovoit was dismissed by Putin on Monday morning. The decree announcing his dismissal was published on the official Kremlin website, with his deputy Andrey Nikitin appointed acting minister.

Asked by reporters for the reasons behind Starovoit’s dismissal, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied this was due to a “lack of trust,” but he did not give any alternative reason.

The Investigative Committee of Russia said in a statement that Starovoit’s body was found inside a car in Odintsovo, a suburb of Moscow. He was found with a gunshot wound, the committee said. It said the circumstances of his death were being investigated but the “main theory is suicide.”

Another Transport Ministry official died on Monday: Andrey Korneichuk, 42, who worked for the Federal Agency for Rail Transport. Russian state media reported that Korneichuk died at his workplace, possibly from “acute heart failure.” There is no indication the deaths are linked.

Before he became a minister in May 2024, Starovoit was the governor of the southern Russian Kursk region. While he left the post before Ukraine’s surprise incursion, he was partially blamed for security failures in the Russian region.

Russian media reported on Monday that Starovoit has been implicated in an investigation into the embezzlement of state funds allocated for building fortifications in the region. Vesti, a state TV program, as well as RBC, a Russian independent business media outlet, and the Russian business daily newspaper Kommersant reported that he was being investigated. Kommersant said Starovoit was facing an arrest.

Alexei Smirnov, Starovoit’s predecessor in the Kursk governor role who was previously his deputy, was arrested in the same case in April this year, according to court in Moscow.

The dismissal came amid a multi-day disruption to air travel in Russia. Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport said 485 flights were canceled, 88 were diverted and 1,900 were delayed over the weekend and into Monday.

The agency said the cancellations were down to “external interference,” without giving any specifics. But the Russian Defense Ministry said more than 400 Ukrainian long-range strikes were intercepted during the same period of time.

The Ukrainian military said it also struck a chemical plant in Krasnozavodsk, north of Moscow early on Monday. It said the plant manufactures “pyrotechnic devices and ammunition, including thermobaric warheads for Shahed-type” drones.