RUSSIA’S former transport minister has reportedly been found dead just hours after being fired by Vladimir Putin.
Roman Starovoit, who had held the post for less than a year, was dismissed earlier Monday amid escalating turmoil in Russia’s transport sector.
Former Russian transport minister Roman Starovoit was reportedly found dead at his home[/caption]
The 53-year-old was fired by Putin earlier today[/caption]
Hours later, he was reportedly found dead at his home in the elite Odintsovo – marking another grim twist in the Kremlin’s growing shadow of sudden deaths.
There is no official confirmation at the moment, but major channels with links to the Russian security forces reported the cause of death as suicide, claiming the minister was found dead with gunshot wounds.
The firearm, according to Russian media, was an award pistol issued to him in 2023 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Unconfirmed reports suggest he was killed using his own weapon.
Izvestiya, citing a source, said Starovoit had shot himself.
The report was picked up by Reuters and Al Arabiya.
News of the death first broke via NextaTV on X, posting: “Former Russian Transport Minister, Fired by Putin Today, Found Dead.”
Putin has replaced Starovoit with his deputy, Andrei Nikitin, who immediately called for a reduction in cargo bottlenecks and promised stability.
The Kremlin has not issued an official comment on Starovoit’s death.
His is the latest in a string of suspicious deaths of Russian officials, oligarchs and insiders since Mad Vlad’s invasion of Ukraine began.
Many have died in reported suicides, falls from windows or under mysterious circumstances, fuelling speculation about growing instability behind the Kremlin’s walls.
Starovoit’s sacking came amid unprecedented flight chaos in Russia linked to Ukrainian drones, with thousands of services delayed or cancelled.
A total of 485 flights were cancelled between Saturday and today, with 1,900 services delayed.
Some 43,000 ticket refunds have been issued so far, with 94,000 people accommodated in hotels by airlines.
Impatient passengers were marooned in overcrowded terminals, with worst hit airports being major hub Sheremetyevo in Moscow and Pulkovo in St Petersburg, where 7,000 stranded flyers were marooned this morning.
But multiple regional airports were hit too, including in Siberia.
The cost of the mayhem was put at £186 million – and rising.
“Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian airports are aimed at undermining air logistics,” said Telegram channel Kremlin Whisperer.
“Schedule disruptions, delays of hundreds of flights, suspension of operations at five airports – all this is becoming not just a tactical, but a strategic action aimed at shaking the usual rhythm of life and demonstrating the vulnerability of the system.”
However, no civilian airport was directly hit in recent days by Ukrainian drones.
Putin was said to have been displeased with technocrat Starovoit for failing to implement a crisis management plan to cope with the fallout from the war, including Western sanctions of plane repairs.
The ex-transport minister was also fired amid unconfirmed rumours of a corruption probe.
Starovoit was the governor of the Kursk region shortly before the Ukrainian Armed Forces took over a swathe of its territory last year.
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