Moscow, July 08 (V7N) — Roman Starovoit, Russia’s recently dismissed Transport Minister and former governor of the Kursk region, has been found dead in what investigators believe may have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Russian Investigative Committee announced on Monday.

The news comes just hours after President Vladimir Putin officially dismissed Starovoit from his ministerial post. No reason was given for the dismissal, and Deputy Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin has been appointed as his successor.

Starovoit had served as Transport Minister since May 2024, following his nearly six-year tenure as governor of the Kursk region from 2018 to 2024. His death has prompted an ongoing investigation by the Investigative Committee, which is looking into the exact circumstances surrounding the incident.

The timing of Starovoit's dismissal and death has raised fresh questions about internal political tensions within the Kremlin, particularly regarding the Kursk offensive. In August 2024, Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russian territory, seizing part of the Kursk region — a serious embarrassment for Moscow.

While Russian forces later regained most of the lost territory, Ukrainian officials claimed as recently as June that they still held a small strip inside Russia.

Adding to the controversy, Alexei Smirnov, who briefly succeeded Starovoit as Kursk governor, was arrested in April on charges of embezzling public funds intended for constructing military fortifications along the Ukrainian border.

It remains unclear exactly when Starovoit died. Speaking to RTVI, Andrei Kartapolov, chair of the Russian State Duma’s Defense Committee, said, “He died a few days ago.”

Earlier on Monday, before the news of Starovoit’s death broke, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov deflected questions about whether Putin had lost confidence in the former minister over the Kursk incident. “You talk about losing trust when you lose trust,” Peskov responded vaguely.

The sudden death of a high-ranking former minister, amid a series of regional and military setbacks for Moscow, is likely to deepen speculation about instability within the Russian political and defense establishment.

Source: BBC News

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