On Monday, July 7th, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation announced that Roman Starovoyt, the former Minister of Transportation who had just been dismissed, was suspected to have committed suicide in his car.
According to several Telegram channels closely related to Russian security agencies, the 53-year-old Starovoyt, who previously served as the Governor of the Kursk region in Ukraine, took his own life in a Tesla Model X in a small town in western Moscow.
He had been serving as the Minister of Transportation since May 2024.
Earlier on Monday, Russian President Putin issued a decree formally removing Starovoyt from his position as Minister of Transportation and appointed Andrey Nikitin as the Acting Minister of Transportation.
The Financial Times reported that this was the first instance in many years of a senior Russian official committing suicide, and it marked the first high-ranking official suicide amidst scrutiny of decision-making related to the Ukraine conflict.
The statement released by the Kremlin did not specify the reasons for Starovoyt’s dismissal.
Starovoyt’s death occurred during an investigation into corruption surrounding the construction of defense structures in Kursk. The case has been criminally investigated. Parts of Kursk region were under Ukrainian control for six months until March 2025.
Starovoyt’s successor, the Governor of the Kursk region, and his deputy were arrested during the investigation and accused of embezzling at least 1 billion rubles (over 12 million dollars) of defense funds.
According to reports from various Russian media outlets and Telegram channels, Starovoyt may have been implicated in the ongoing investigation of this case.
Starovoyt’s death also coincided with a period of chaos at major Russian airports (including Moscow and St. Petersburg airports) following drone attacks in Ukraine.
The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) stated that nearly 500 flights have been canceled and close to 2,000 flights delayed since last Saturday (5th).
In recent months, such disruption events have become increasingly frequent, with some airports being forced to close dozens of times since early spring.
When asked whether the personnel changes in the Transportation Ministry were due to a loss of trust in Starovoyt by Putin, Kremlin spokesperson Peskov responded, stating that “if there was no trust, it would be mentioned. But there is no such statement in the President’s decree.”
Reuters reported that the Russian transportation industry is currently facing significant challenges. The Russian aviation sector is experiencing shortages of components, while the Russian railway company is burdened with high interest costs due to inflation caused by the war.