New Delhi: Monday (July 7) morning began like every other in Moscow. However by the top of the day, Roman Starovoit – a person as soon as trusted with guarding Russia’s borders – was discovered lifeless close to a bush, just a few steps from his parked automotive in Odintsovo, a suburb simply exterior the capital. Hours earlier, Vladimir Putin had eliminated him from workplace with out clarification. He was Russia’s transport minister.
The information of his mysterious loss of life got here in layers. First, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stood earlier than the press. A query got here up – had Putin misplaced belief in Starovoit over his dealing with of occasions in Kursk? Peskov mentioned no. “If there had been a lack of belief,” he replied, “the decree would have mentioned so”.
Then got here silence.
By night, Russia’s Investigative Committee launched a press release. They confirmed Starovoit was no extra. They mentioned an inquiry had begun. No explanation for loss of life. No point out of suspects. Solely the standard phrase – we’re wanting into it.
Based on Forbes Russia, Starovoit might have died late Saturday (July 5) or early Sunday (July 6). His physique was found solely on Monday.
State Duma’s Defence Committee head Andrei Kartapolov instructed RTVI (a worldwide Russian-speaking multi-platform media) that Starovoit had seemingly been useless for a while earlier than the general public even knew.
Cameras quickly captured investigators combing by means of the Odintsovo parking zone. Pictures confirmed males in gloves and masks. Video footage from the scene started circulating on Telegram.
Roman Starovoit had turn into the transport minister simply over a 12 months in the past, in Might 2024. Earlier than that, he was the governor of Kursk – a area that borders Ukraine – for almost 5 years. He had changed Alexey Smirnov, who beforehand held the highest administrative submit within the area. However now, it appears, the 2 males had been linked differently by means of a corruption case.
Based on RBC TV and Kommersant each day, Smirnov might have testified in opposition to Starovoit. The investigation reportedly revolved round irregularities within the building of defensive constructions close to the Ukraine border. Giant sums of federal cash had been allotted. A few of it could have vanished.
In Russian political circles, this sample feels acquainted. Arrest one man. Use him to construct a case in opposition to the subsequent. Smirnov was reportedly detained earlier. After that, whispers started. Folks near the case hinted that Starovoit had been underneath stress for months.
His previous was tied tightly to the Russian state. Born in Kursk in 1972, he later moved to St. Petersburg along with his household. That’s the place he started climbing the political ladder. Throughout Valentina Matvienko’s tenure as metropolis governor, he grew to become a trusted member of her crew.
He labored on vehicle plant tasks, then infrastructure and later joined the federal authorities’s Business and Infrastructure division – on the time, led by Putin himself. He was concerned in preparations for the Sochi Olympics. In 2012, he grew to become head of Rosavtodor, Russia’s federal freeway company. In 2018, he was appointed because the deputy transport minister.
By October that very same 12 months, Starovoit had stepped into the position of performing governor of Kursk. His rise had been regular, calculated and at all times inside Putin’s orbit.
Now, his fall is elevating previous Soviet ghosts.
Veteran Russian journalist Sergey Goryashko drew a chilling parallel. He recalled the destiny of Nikolai Shchelokov, Soviet inside minister throughout the Brezhnev period. After his dismissal, Shchelokov was warned of prison prices. On the identical day he was stripped of all rank, he took his personal life.
In Starovoit’s case, investigators had been circling the Kursk authorities’s price range for 2022 and 2023. Giant funds had been permitted, however irregularities have been reported. He had signed lots of these paperwork.
His final three months, sources say, have been crammed with dread – anxiousness and concern of arrest and betrayal. That concern might have grown stronger after Smirnov’s detention.
In right now’s Russia, it is not uncommon for arrested officers to implicate their former bosses. These with out sturdy safety attempt to flee earlier than the knock comes. Some succeed. Mikhail Yurevich and Boris Dubrovsky, two ex-governors from Chelyabinsk, had each left the nation earlier than prices might contact them.
Starovoit stayed. He didn’t run. He didn’t converse. After which he disappeared.
His loss of life has no official trigger. No post-mortem report has been made public. However one factor is for certain. One other loyalist has vanished. And this time, even the Kremlin’s silence is talking volumes.