MOSCOW — The obvious suicide of Russia’s transportation minister introduced expressions of outrage and sorrow Tuesday from the Kremlin however no new clues as to why Roman Starovoit may have taken his personal existence amid media hypothesis that he doubtlessly was once going through corruption fees.
Starovoit, who served in his submit for little over a yr, was once discovered lifeless from a gunshot wound — information that broke hours after a decree was once issued Monday via President Vladimir Putin that disregarded the 53-year-old Cupboard member.
Starovoit’s frame was once discovered within the Odintsovo district simply west of the capital this is house to many participants of Russia’s elite, consistent with the Investigative Committee, the rustic’s best felony investigation company. It mentioned {that a} felony probe was once introduced into his loss of life and investigators noticed suicide because the perhaps motive.
The company mentioned Starovoit’s frame was once present in his automobile, however Russian media that carried pictures from the scene later reported that he was once discovered lifeless in a small park subsequent to a carpark the place he left his Tesla and a pistol offered to him as an reputable present was once at his aspect.
The studies mentioned Starovoit’s non-public assistant was once requested to spot his frame and she or he was once observed weeping in a while.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to remark at the cases of Starovoit’s loss of life, announcing that investigators should resolve the main points.
“Such data is all the time tragic and unhappy,” Peskov mentioned, noting that Putin was once in an instant knowledgeable about it. “Naturally, we had been stunned via it.”
Russian media reported that Starovoit’s dismissal and his loss of life may have been related to an investigation into the embezzlement of state price range allotted for construction fortifications within the Kursk area, the place he was once governor for 5 years prior to changing into transportation minister.
Starovoit’s successor as governor, Alexei Smirnov, stepped down in December and was once arrested on embezzlement fees in April. Some Russian media have claimed that Smirnov had advised investigators about Starovoit’s alleged involvement within the corruption scheme and his arrest seemed inevitable.
Some commentators even alleged that Starovoit’s friends in upper echelons may have ordered his killing to steer clear of publicity.
The alleged embezzlement has been cited as one reason why at the back of the Russian army’s failure to stem a wonder August 2024 incursion within the area via Ukrainian troops that temporarily crushed flippantly armed Russian border guards and green military conscripts. The incursion humiliated the Kremlin — the primary time the rustic’s territory was once occupied via an invader since International Struggle II.
The Russian army introduced in April that its troops had absolutely reclaimed the border territory just about 9 months after dropping chunks of the area. Ukraine had disputed that statement.
On July 1, former Deputy Protection Minister Timur Ivanov was once convicted on fees of embezzlement and cash laundering and sentenced to 13 years in jail in a high-profile case that revealed rampant army corruption extensively blamed for Moscow’s army setbacks in Ukraine.
Ivanov was once essentially the most visual determine in a far-ranging probe into alleged army graft that still centered a number of different best officers who had been with regards to former Protection Minister Sergei Shoigu. Shoigu, a veteran reputable who had non-public ties to Putin, survived the purge of his interior circle and was once given a high-profile submit of secretary of Russia’s Safety Council.
Ivanov, 49, was once named deputy protection minister in 2016 and oversaw army development initiatives, in addition to belongings control, housing and scientific give a boost to for the troops. He was once recognized for his lavish way of life that outraged many in Moscow simply because the preventing in Ukraine uncovered obtrusive deficiencies in Russian army group and provides that led to battlefield setbacks.
Putin named Andrei Nikitin, who served as deputy delivery minister, to exchange Starovoit. Lawmakers within the decrease area of Russian parliament temporarily counseled his appointment on Tuesday.
Starovoit, who was once divorced, is survived via two teenage daughters.
