By Olha Chepil | 2025-07-18

A Russian cabinet minister is dead, and the public does not know whether he was fired by Russian President Vladimir Putin before or after a bullet killed him.

The death of Roman Starovoit, a former Russian transport minister and recently dismissed governor of Kursk province, is raising questions about deepening instability inside the Kremlin.

Starovoit was found dead from a gunshot wound July 7 in Odintsovo district outside Moscow, reportedly inside his car. That same day, Putin signed a decree removing him from office.

The timing, along with Starovoit's reputation for loyalty to the Kremlin, has rattled Russia's political elite, suggesting even high-ranking insiders are no longer shielded by the system, say analysts.

"Naturally, we were shocked by this too. This cannot but shock normal people," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on July 8, responding to journalists' questions about Starovoit's death.

Questions about the case

Some reports later indicated Starovoit's body was found not in his car but in nearby bushes. Russia's Investigative Committee quickly labeled the death a suicide.

"This is definitely the most notorious suicide of a high-ranking official in the history of the Russian Federation. There are many questions!" said Ivan Valyushko, an analyst with Ukraine's National Institute for Strategic Studies.

Starovoit oversaw the construction of defensive fortifications on the border with Ukraine until May 2024, during his tenure as governor of Kursk province. He was linked to the circle surrounding the Rotenberg brothers -- billionaire businessmen with close ties to Putin -- particularly in the context of managing state funds. A criminal investigation of possible embezzlement related to those construction projects has begun.

"The suicide version is convenient for everyone. His death cuts the thread that could have connected him to the Rotenbergs and, in the end, to Putin himself," Valyushko told Kontur.

"He has been involved in this major criminal case," said Olga Romanova, director of the rights group Russia Behind Bars.

"But would there have been this criminal case if the AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] had not entered Kursk province [last August]? Putin is angry that Kursk province capitulated," she told Kontur, referring to Ukraine's rapid advance through the poorly defended province last year.

Police later arrested Starovoit's successor and the new deputy governor on suspicion of embezzling at least 1 billion RUB -- about $12.7 million -- in state funds meant for fortifications.

"If Starovoit is the endpoint in this plundering scheme, why shouldn't he shoot himself. But what if he is not the endpoint?" said Romanova.

His demise coincided with growing pressure on life inside Russia, as Ukrainian drone attacks disrupted airports in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Last call for the elite

Starovoit's death indicates growing instability within Russia's ruling elite, say analysts.

Valyushko pointed to the overly convenient nature of the case. Starovoit was found dead on the same day that Putin fired him.

The case is triggering a chain reaction of panic inside the elite, said Valyushko.

"Now it is becoming clear that being in the system and being close to the top no longer guarantee safety," he explained.

The death reflects what analysts describe as a breakdown of the Kremlin's once-protective power structure. Former ministers, governors and MPs no longer feel shielded by their proximity to power. Starovoit's downfall, they argue, is part of a broader unraveling.

"Political repression is beginning to expand in all directions. At some point, the machine starts to devour the 'ultra-patriots' like the war criminal Igor Strelkov (Girkin)... The same applies to Russian officials," said Dmitry Anisimov, a political analyst and human rights activist with OVD-Info.

A Dutch court in 2022 convicted Strelkov, now in a Russian prison on other charges, in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine in 2014. The crash killed all 298 crew and passengers aboard.

Fear of arrest and prosecution is erasing political ambition, Anisimov told Kontur. The climate has grown so toxic that some provinces have trouble finding candidates to run for office.

"Some cities have had to announce mayoral elections several times because there are no candidates. The same applies to provincial MPs," Anisimov said.

An epidemic

Starovoit's death is part of a troubling pattern of premature death in Russia. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, dozens of Russian civilian and military VIPs have died under unusual circumstances.

Thirty-four senior officials, business leaders and state corporation CEOs died mysteriously between early 2022 and mid-2025, according to InformNapalm, a volunteer investigative group.

The list includes top executives at Lukoil and Gazprom, as well as officials linked to military logistics, exports and allocation of military resources.

"There [in Russia] they almost all fell out of windows. This, too, is like a 'calling card.' And it continues even now," said Romanova.

Starovoit's case stands out because of his ministerial rank and the sensationalism around his case, but it follows the same logic seen in all the deaths preceding his: the Kremlin no longer protects its own, she said.

"The system can no longer cope with conflicts except through elimination," he said.