Russian Minister of Transport Roman Starovoit, who was found dead with a gunshot wound after being dismissed on Monday, was involved in an investigation regarding the misappropriation of funds intended for the strengthening of the border with Ukraine.
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin dismissed Roman Starovoit on Monday, a former governor of the Kursk region, from the position of Minister of Transport and asked Starovoit’s deputy to replace him. Starovoit was found dead in a park outside Moscow, investigators announced a few hours later.
Two sources told Reuters, on condition of anonymity, that Starovoit's dismissal had been planned for some time, as he was suspected of involvement in the misappropriation of funds intended for defense strengthening in the Kursk region.
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The Kremlin expressed shock at the news of his death but refused to disclose the reasons for the dismissal.
Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers crossed the Russian border into the Kursk region in August 2024, marking the largest foreign incursion into Russia since World War II, which was a major embarrassment for the Russian army.
Ukrainian forces were only pushed out of Kursk earlier this year, but a large part of the region was devastated, and Russia claimed that tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers were killed or injured in the fighting there. Russia did not disclose its own losses, but Ukraine said they were heavy.
RBC, a major Russian media group, reported that law enforcement agencies in Russia were investigating Starovoit's involvement in the misappropriation of funds in the Kursk region. Kommersant, one of Russia's leading newspapers, stated that individuals accused in this case testified against Starovoit.
Prosecutors announced in December that they had discovered misappropriations of funds – including overpricing of construction costs – amounting to 19.4 billion rubles (248 million dollars) allocated for strengthening the border with Ukraine in Kursk.
The border strengthening works began when Starovoit was governor of the Kursk region. Prosecutors stated that the works were not completed on time and that at least 3.2 billion rubles (41 million dollars) are missing.
The Russian state Investigative Committee, which investigates serious crimes, stated that the main hypothesis is that Starovoit committed suicide. A weapon was found next to his body. No further details were provided, and the time of death was not specified.
Almost Unique Event in Russian History
Steve Rosenberg, BBC correspondent in Moscow, reports that although there have been previous examples of Russian officials dying under suspicious circumstances, Starovoit's case has caused a real shock.
“Roman Starovoit's suicide just a few hours after the president's dismissal order is an almost unique event in Russian history,” wrote the tabloid Moskovski Komsomoleţ. Just over thirty years ago, before the fall of the Soviet Union, there was another example of a minister committing suicide.
In August 1991, after the failed coup attempt by radical communists, one of the coup leaders, Soviet Interior Minister Boris Pugo, shot himself.
Russian authorities have not confirmed that Starovoit was under investigation for misappropriation of funds, but if the fear of criminal prosecution drove a former minister to take his own life, what does this tell us about today's Russia? rhetorically asks the BBC correspondent.
For the political elite, for ministers, governors, and other Russian officials who have sought to be part of the political system, what happened to Starovoit will serve as a warning, the BBC correspondent continues.
It is a reminder of the dangers that arise from not respecting the system, he concludes.