Former Russian Transport Minister Starovoit Found Dead Hours After Dismissal

Former Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit was found dead in his car with a gunshot wound, investigators confirmed just hours after President Vladimir Putin abruptly replaced him amid a wave of Ukrainian drone attacks that have disrupted air traffic and exposed vulnerabilities deep inside Russian territory.

Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Investigative Committee, said on July 7 that Starovoit’s body was discovered in his personal vehicle in the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region.

“The circumstances of Roman Starovoit’s death are being established. The primary theory is suicide,” Petrenko said.

Starovoit, after barely a year in the job, was removed from office by Putin earlier in the day without explanation.

In a swift political reshuffle following Starovoit’s dimissal, Putin appointed Andrei Nikitin, a deputy transport minister and former Novgorod region governor, as acting minister.

While Russian officials have not linked Starovoit’s dismissal to the aviation crisis, some analysts note the timing raises questions about potential scapegoating amid intensifying military and logistical challenges.

Local media had conflicting reports about the timing of Starovoit's death, while some had differing accounts of where the body and gun were found.

Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said in a statement it had launched an investigation that is "establishing the circumstances of the death of Roman Starovoit."

Meanwhile several outlets including Komersant reported that Starovoit may have been under investigation for large-scale fraud dating back to when he was the governor of the Kursk region.

According to the media outlet, he was allegedly implicated in embezzling at least 1 billion rubles earmarked for defensive infrastructure near the Ukrainian border in testimony given by his former deputy.

Investigators are reportedly also examining possible links to irregularities in medical supply procurement and a failed transport reform in Kursk during his tenure as governor.

There has been no official confirmation of these allegations.

The Russian Transport Ministry reported on July 6 that around 400 flights were canceled nationwide by early evening, urging passengers to consider train travel. Sheremetyevo Airport, Moscow’s largest, recorded 171 canceled flights and 56 delays exceeding two hours.

St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport saw 90 cancellations and 37 delays, with additional suspensions at airports in Ivanovo, Kaluga, Kirov, Pskov, and Tambov.

The ministry emphasized the availability of high-speed rail connections between Moscow and St. Petersburg as an alternative.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses shot down six drones approaching the capital, while regional officials reported similar interceptions near St. Petersburg and Kaluga. Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov confirmed two civilians were injured by drone debris near the Ukrainian border.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have downed 91 Ukrainian drones overnight, most in the Belgorod, Kursk, and Lipetsk regions. Debris reportedly fell on the Ilsky Oil Refinery in Krasnodar and injured a woman in Bryansk’s Klimovsky district.

Ukrainian sources said drones targeted the Krasnozavodsk Chemical Plant in the Moscow region, a facility linked to explosive production, though this remains unconfirmed.

On July 7, Russian forces launched their own strikes on Ukraine. The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 75 of 101 Russian drones and neutralized four surface-to-air missiles. However, drone attacks damaged infrastructure in Odesa, killing a security guard, and left 27 injured in Kharkiv, including three children. Kyiv was also targeted, with damage reported in three districts but no casualties.

The Ukrainian government and international observers maintain that Russia is deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, including homes, schools, hospitals, power systems, and water facilities. Moscow denies targeting civilian areas, despite widespread proof of such attacks since the beginning of its full-scale invasion in February 2022.