Sacked Russian transport minister found dead in his car with gunshot wound
Some Russian media, citing law enforcement sources, said his body had been found with a gunshot wound to the head in bushes near his car, a Tesla, rather than in the car itself.
The vehicle was left near a park not far from his home in the Moscow region.
Before being appointed transport minister in May 2024, Starovoit had been governor of the Kursk region for nearly five years.
Three months after he became transport minister, Ukrainian troops crossed the border into Kursk in the biggest foreign incursion into Russian territory since World War 2 and were only pushed out earlier this year after fierce fighting and widespread destruction.
In April this year, Starovoit's successor as governor and his former deputy, Alexei Smirnov, was charged with embezzling money earmarked for defence purposes amid accusations that funds intended for border defences had been stolen, leaving Kursk more vulnerable to Ukrainian attack.
Russian media outlets reported on Monday that Smirnov had told state investigators Starovoit had also been in on the fraud.
Reuters could not confirm that, and a lawyer for Smirnov, who has pleaded not guilty to embezzlement, told the state RIA news agency he couldn't comment.
Starovoit's dismissal comes at a time of significant challenges for Russia's transport sector as the war in Ukraine drags on for a fourth year.
Russia's aviation sector is short of spare parts and Russian Railways, the country's largest employer, is grappling with soaring interest costs as high rates, needed to curb higher inflation worsened by the war, take their toll.
Long-range Ukrainian drones also frequently force Russian airports to suspend their activities for safety reasons, sometimes causing major disruption.
The Kremlin said Andrei Nikitin, a former governor of the Novgorod region, had been appointed acting transport minister, and published photographs of him shaking hands with Putin in the Kremlin.
Asked about Nikitin's swift appointment, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin thought Nikitin had the right professional qualities and experience for the job.
The transport ministry declined to comment.
At his meeting with Putin, Nikitin spoke about working to digitise Russia's transport industry to reduce cargo bottlenecks and ensure smoother cross-border flows of goods.
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