Roman Starovoit, Russia’s former Transport Minister, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot in his car in a Moscow suburb, just hours after President Vladimir Putin dismissed him from his post. The official decree offered no reason for his removal. Starovoit had been appointed minister in May 2024 after serving nearly five years as governor of the border region of Kursk. The Kremlin has appointed Andrei Nikitin, former governor of Novgorod, as the acting transport minister in the wake of the incident.