بعد ساعات من إطاحة بوتين به.. انتحار وزير النقل الروسي

After hours of being ousted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, sources in the Russian Investigative Committee announced today (Monday) that Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit committed suicide, according to the "Russia Today" channel.

The channel reported that official sources in the Russian Investigative Committee indicated that preliminary results suggest that former Transport Minister Roman Starovoit took his own life, following the discovery of his body. It clarified that investigative authorities in the Moscow region are working to determine the circumstances and causes of death, with the main scenario indicating that it was a suicide.

The channel mentioned that Starovoit was dismissed earlier today on charges of financial corruption and embezzlement, noting that his body was found with a gunshot wound in his personal vehicle in the Odintsovo area of the Moscow region, and a personal firearm he received from the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2023 was found at the scene in recognition of his efforts to the state.

President Vladimir Putin had issued a decision earlier today to relieve Roman Starovoit from his position, which he had held since May of last year. Based on the presidential decision, his deputy Andrei Nikitin was appointed as acting Minister of Transport.

Starovoit had taken office in May 2024 after spending nearly five years as the governor of the Kursk region in western Russia, which had witnessed extensive Ukrainian attacks in recent months. However, just a few months after Starovoit left the governor's position, Ukrainian forces crossed the border into Kursk and launched Kyiv's largest incursion into Russian territory since the outbreak of the war in 2022.

Starovoit served as the governor of the region and worked in the transport sector, having headed the Russian Federal Road Agency for six years before taking on the role of governor.

It is worth noting that Ukrainian drones have repeatedly forced Russia to close its airspace to civilian air traffic after Kyiv targeted military facilities and other sites in an effort to cause internal damage in Moscow. According to statistics, Russian airlines canceled 485 flights, while they had to reroute 88 flights, and 1,900 flights were delayed from Saturday to Monday, according to the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency and the Russian Ministry of Transport.

Russian airlines had to bear the cost of refunding 43,000 tickets, accommodating 49,000 people in hotels, and providing food and drinks worth 354,000 rubles (3,800 euros). According to the Russian newspaper "Kommersant," transportation issues will cost billions of rubles (about 200,000 euros).