Russian minister dies by suicide hours after getting fired by Putin, officers say

CNN
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Former Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit died by suicide on Monday, simply hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin fired him from the job, officers mentioned.

Starovoit was dismissed by Putin on Monday morning. The decree asserting his dismissal was printed on the official Kremlin web site, together with his deputy Andrey Nikitin appointed performing minister.

Requested by reporters for the explanations behind Starovoit’s dismissal, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied this was on account of a “lack of belief,” however he didn’t give any different motive.

The Investigative Committee of Russia mentioned in a press release that Starovoit’s physique was discovered inside a automobile in Odintsovo, a suburb of Moscow. He was discovered with a gunshot wound, the committee mentioned. It mentioned the circumstances of his dying have been being investigated however the “most important principle is suicide.”

Earlier than he grew to become a minister in Might 2024, Starovoit was the governor of the southern Russian Kursk area. Whereas he left the put up earlier than Ukraine’s shock incursion, he was partially blamed for safety failures within the Russian area.

Russian media reported on Monday that Starovoit has been implicated in an investigation into the embezzlement of state funds allotted for constructing fortifications within the area. Vesti, a state TV program, in addition to RBC, a Russian impartial enterprise media outlet, and the Russian enterprise every day newspaper Kommersant reported that he was being investigated. Kommersant mentioned Starovoit was going through an arrest.

Alexei Smirnov, Starovoit’s predecessor within the Kursk governor position who was beforehand his deputy, was arrested in the identical case in April this yr, based on court docket in Moscow.

The dismissal got here amid a multi-day disruption to air journey in Russia. Russian Federal Company for Air Transport mentioned 485 flights have been canceled, 88 have been diverted and 1,900 have been delayed over the weekend and into Monday.

The company mentioned the cancellations have been all the way down to “exterior interference,” with out giving any specifics. However the Russian Protection Ministry mentioned greater than 400 Ukrainian long-range strikes have been intercepted throughout the identical time period.

The Ukrainian army mentioned it additionally struck a chemical plant in Krasnozavodsk, north of Moscow early on Monday. It mentioned the plant manufactures “pyrotechnic units and ammunition, together with thermobaric warheads for Shahed-type” drones.

At the least 12 civilians have been killed and greater than 90 injured in Russian assaults throughout Ukraine within the 24 hours to mid-morning on Monday, based on Ukrainian authorities.

At the least 29 folks, together with three kids aged 3, 7 and 11, have been injured when Russian drones hit a residential constructing, a kindergarten and a business space at 6 a.m. native time Monday (11 p.m. ET on Sunday) in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine.

At the least 17 extra folks, together with a teenage boy, have been injured when the identical metropolis was struck with drones once more simply 5 hours later, based on Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov.

The Ukrainian Air Power mentioned Russia fired 4 surface-to-air missiles and 101 Shahed-type drones at Ukraine previously 24 hours, including that it downed 75 of the drones both by capturing them down or by jamming.

The Land Forces of Ukraine mentioned on Monday that two of its recruitment places of work have been hit by Russian drones on Monday, the most recent in a string of comparable incidents.

Six draft places of work throughout the nation have been attacked by Russian drones in simply over per week, the Land Forces mentioned in a press release, including that they believed Russia was attacking the places of work in an try to disrupt the Ukrainian army’s enlistment course of.

At the least two folks have been killed and greater than a dozen injured in these assaults, the assertion mentioned.