Russia's ex-Transport Minister Roman Starovoy dies of suspected suicide hours after Putin fired him, state media say

[ad_1] Russia's Minister of Transport reportedly killed himself simply hours after being fired by President Vladimir Putin, in keeping with the nation's state-run information company, which cited the nationwide Investigative Committee. A second senior Transport Ministry official reportedly died quickly after, for causes which stay unclear.

Roman Starovoy fatally shot himself Monday in his automobile in Odintsovo, a metropolis west of Moscow, in keeping with a press release from the committee that was reported by Russia's TASS information company.

"The circumstances of the incident are being established," TASS cited the Investigative Committee as saying. "The primary speculation is suicide."

Forbes Russia reported that Starovoy, 53, died "presumably in a single day between Saturday and Sunday," citing an nameless supply near state investigators. It was not attainable to elucidate the discrepancy between the occasions of dying reported by Forbes and the official Russian media.

Russian Minister of Transport Roman Starovoy attends a gathering with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, in a Jan. 30, 2025 file picture. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool by way of REUTERS

Putin had dismissed Starovoy simply hours earlier, in keeping with a decree published by the Kremlin . No official cause was given, however ongoing Ukranian drone attacks on Russia induced chaos for air site visitors within the nation over the weekend, prompting the cancellation of a whole lot of flights and stranding passengers.

Russia's Ministry of Protection claimed to have intercepted at the very least 120 drones over 10 totally different areas of the nation between Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

Officers in Ukraine, in the meantime, mentioned Monday that at the very least 11 civilians have been killed and greater than 80 others injured, together with seven kids, in Russian drone assaults. Russia has intensified its missile and drone strikes, together with many who hit civilian areas, in latest days.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned Monday that over the previous week alone, Russia had launched about 1,270 drones, 39 missiles and practically 1,000 glide bombs at Ukraine.

Starovoy grew to become Russia's Transport Minister in 2024, earlier than which he was the governor of the Kursk area on the border with Ukraine.

One other official reportedly "stood up sharply… and fell lifeless" Quickly after Starovoy's dying was reported by Russian media, a lower-ranking official whose job fell throughout the remit of the Transport Ministry, 42-year-old Andrei Korneichuk, was mentioned to have died abruptly throughout a gathering.

At his workplace in jap Moscow, Korneichuk, who was the deputy head of the Federal Highway Company's Land Fund Division, "stood up sharply throughout a gathering and fell lifeless," in keeping with the SHOT news outlet , which is alleged to be near the navy.

"The medics couldn't assist him," SHOT added. The impartial Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta mentioned at the very least two different Russian government-linked information retailers had reported the identical primary particulars.

The preliminary explanation for dying was decided to be cardiac arrest, in keeping with the media retailers cited by the Gazeta.

The 2 deaths come simply days after that of the vice-president of Russian state oil firm Transneft.

The physique of Andrei Badalov, 62, was discovered "beneath the window of a home" in western Moscow on Friday, TASS cited regulation enforcement officers as saying. The state information company mentioned he had written a farewell message to his spouse.

The instances are simply the newest in a string of high-profile, powerful Russians dying abruptly, typically in obvious falls from home windows or different incidents.