MOSCOW: The death of the 53-year-old official became known on the afternoon of July 7, several hours after his dismissal from the post of transport minister. The Kremlin clarified that the personnel decision was not related to a loss of trust. The main thing is in the RBC material
Former head of the Ministry of Transport Roman Starovoit committed suicide. His body with a gunshot wound was found in the Odintsovo urban district, the Investigative Committee reported.
The circumstances of the incident are being established, the main version is suicide, the Investigative Committee clarified. According to an RBC source in law enforcement, a service pistol was found at the scene of the death. Starovoit received the weapon in the fall of 2023 by order of Vladimir Kolokoltsev - for assisting the Ministry of Internal Affairs in carrying out tasks in the Kursk region. We are talking about a Makarov pistol.
A high-ranking source of RBC, familiar with the situation, stated that Starovoyt's body was found on July 7, according to him, the suicide also occurred on that day.
Roman Starovoyt's body was found behind a bush a few meters from his car. In the evening, as reported by the RBC correspondent, emergency services removed the official's body from the scene of the incident, after which it was taken to the morgue. Starovoyt was 53 years old. On the morning of July 7, he was dismissed from the post of Minister of Transport. The Kremlin stated that this was not related to a loss of trust, but did not name the reason for the dismissal. Starovoyt's deputy and former governor of the Novgorod region Andrei Nikitin was appointed acting head of the department. According to the Ministry of Transport, the last working event with the official's participation took place on the morning of July 6. At 10:37 Moscow time on Sunday, a video from the situation center appeared on the department's Telegram channel, where Starovoyt was informed about the work of airports amid the cancellation and postponement of flights due to drone attacks.
Starovoyt headed the Ministry of Transport since May 2024. Before that, he was the governor of the Kursk region (2019-2024). He was replaced in this post by former first deputy and former head of the regional government Alexey Smirnov.
Invasion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and a criminal case
On August 6, 2024, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) invaded the Kursk region. According to Smirnov's estimates, which he voiced in mid-September, 150 thousand residents were forced to leave their homes. Over eight and a half months, 59 settlements were under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In the fall, residents of the Kursk border area, dissatisfied with the actions of the authorities, held several rallies and recorded a video message to the President of Russia. On December 6, Smirnov announced his transfer to a new job "by decision of the management." He did not name the new position, and State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein became acting governor of the Kursk region.
In mid-April, Smirnov was arrested in a case of fraud worth 1 billion rubles during the construction of defensive structures (the so-called dragon's teeth) in the Kursk region on the border with Ukraine.
Even before Starovoit's resignation from the post of minister, RBK sources said that sooner or later this story of theft in the Kursk region would hit him, too, since the construction of defensive structures began under his rule.
After information about the official's suicide appeared, an RBK source reported that Starovoit was indeed being investigated for his involvement in theft during the construction of fortifications. According to Kommersant, several defendants in the case, including Alexey Smirnov, testified against the former governor.
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