Russian President Vladimir Putin dismisses transport minister Starovoit
No reason was given for Starovoit's unexpected dismissal. He was appointed transport minister in May 2024 after spending almost five years as governor of Russia's western Kursk region.
A few months after vacating that role, Ukrainian troops spilled over the border into Kursk as Kyiv launched its biggest incursion into Russian territory since the start of the war in 2022.
Starovoit's predecessor as transport minister, Vitaly Savelyev, became a deputy prime minister. According to the Vedomosti daily newspaper, Starovoit's replacement could be his deputy minister Andrei Nikitin, who was formerly governor of the Novgorod Region.
Prior to serving as a regional governor, Starovoit had worked in the transport sector, leading Russia's federal roads agency Rosavtodor for six years.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
17 minutes ago
- CNN
VA walks back plans for mass layoffs but will still lose tens of thousands of jobs
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Monday it is walking back plans for mass layoffs at the agency but says it will still shed tens of thousands of jobs by the end of fiscal year 2025. VA Secretary Doug Collins previously said the agency had the goal of laying off roughly 80,000 employees from a total staff of about 470,000 that was in place this summer, which would have amounted to about 15% of its workforce. The VA is scrapping those plans for now, but it is on pace to reduce the total number of staffers by nearly 30,000, 'through the federal hiring freeze, deferred resignations, retirements and normal attrition,' the agency said in a news release, adding that those cuts will eliminate 'the need for a large-scale reduction-in-force.' Some employees have already departed through those channels. The VA says it had roughly 484,000 total employees on January 1 and 467,000 employees as of June 1 – a reduction of nearly 17,000 workers. It says between now and September 30, 'the department expects nearly 12,000 additional VA employees to exit through normal attrition, voluntary early retirement authority, or the deferred resignation program.' Sources at the agency and on Capitol Hill previously told CNN the first significant round of layoffs was planned to begin this month, with a second round planned to begin in September. On Monday, VA press secretary Peter Kasperowicz told CNN there is no longer a target of 80,000 cuts. As for next year, Kasperowicz said, 'VA is not planning to make any other major changes to staffing levels beyond those outlined in the release.' The release insists the reductions 'do not impact Veteran care or benefits.' 'All mission-critical positions are exempt' from the deferred resignations and voluntary early retirements, the agency said. CNN has previously reported that some staff who handle administration, billing, and running facilities have already left, leaving doctors and nurses to do those jobs on top of practicing medicine, contributing to sagging morale at some VA facilities, a problem that spans multiple administrations. 'A department-wide RIF is off the table, but that doesn't mean we're done improving VA. Our review has resulted in a host of new ideas for better serving Veterans that we will continue to pursue,' Collins said in the statement. A reduction of 30,000 employees constitutes about 6.2% of the VA's workforce, based on 484,000 total VA employees as of January 1, 2025. Some of the harshest Democratic critics in Congress of the previously planned VA layoffs responded to the latest announcement with scorn. 'This announcement makes clear VA is bleeding employees across the board at an unsustainable rate because of the toxic work environment created by this Administration and DOGE's slash and trash policies,' Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the highest ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement. 'Make no mistake, this is still a reduction in force—except VA has been able to do it without accountability and transparency to veterans and Congress.' House Veterans Affairs Committee ranking member Mark Takano warned that the new staffing reduction plan would still have major impacts. 'The loss of 30,000 VA employees will be catastrophic, and veterans will suffer,' he said in a statement. 'I hope the Secretary is ready to respond to this inevitable disaster.' Across the aisle, one prominent Senate Republican praised Collins' announcement Monday. Sen. Jerry Moran, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement that he had spoken to Collins on Monday morning. Moran said he appreciated the secretary's efforts 'to make certain veterans are at the center of any changes at the VA and ensure the department is focused on providing high-quality health care and benefits to those who have served and their families. This decision provides greater certainty to VA employees and the veterans they serve.'
CNN
39 minutes ago
- CNN
Analysis: Trump's government cuts and the catastrophe in Texas
President Donald Trump's approach to the federal government has been to cut, cut, cut, which means when there is a disaster in which the government plays a role, he will have to expect questions about those cuts. When there's a plane crash, as there was days into his second term, the shortage of air traffic controllers will be scrutinized. When the administration quietly backtracks on some layoffs and struggles to re-fill key positions, it will lead to concerns that cuts went too far. When there's a tragic flood that catches an area off-guard, the effect of his cuts on the National Weather Service and FEMA will become a line of inquiry. Flash floods killed at least 95 people over the July Fourth holiday, and many others are still missing. Rescue and recovery are still ongoing, so no one can say for sure that personnel cuts at the National Weather Service or open positions at forecasting offices in Texas amplified or even affected the flood's tragic outcome. There are many facts yet to be discovered, and a full investigation will certainly be conducted. Prev Next Recent reports about how staffing and budget cuts are affecting forecasting at the agency may ultimately be seen as an early warning. 'The National Weather Service is in worse shape than previously known, according to interviews with current and former meteorologists, due to a combination of layoffs, early retirements and preexisting vacancies,' CNN's Andrew Freedman wrote back in May. The report also noted that a third of National Weather Service forecasting stations lacked a top meteorologist in charge. CNN reported in April the Trump's administration plans to close weather research laboratories and climate research programs meant to improve weather detection as the climate warms. That budget proposal was more recently submitted to Congress. Project 2025, the conservative government blueprint that presaged many of the Trump administration's decisions, called for much less federal spending on weather forecasting and more reliance on private companies. We also can't say for sure that Trump's hands-off approach to emergency management will affect recovery in Texas. In fact, Trump quickly declared the flood zone to be a major disaster area. But he has also said he wants to shutter the Federal Emergency Management Agency and for the federal government to play a much smaller role. 'We want to wean off of FEMA, and we want to bring it back to the state level,' he said at the White House in June. Asked if Trump is reconsidering that position in light of the horrible Texas floods, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this: 'The president wants to ensure American citizens always have what they need during times of need. Whether that assistance comes from states or the federal government, that's a policy discussion that will continue. And the president has always said he wants states to do as much as they can, if not more.' CNN's Gabe Cohen recently reported that disaster decisions were being made directly at the White House, bypassing FEMA and the well-trod process by which states seek help. It also raises concerns that White House political allies could get more attention than political enemies, although a Department of Homeland Security spokesman denied that idea to Cohen. Wanting the federal government to do less has been a theme of the Trump administration so far. States will either have to pony up more of their own money for Medicaid and food aid or watch citizens fall off assistance as a result of the sweeping new policy bill he signed Friday. We also can't directly blame this or any one storm on climate change. But Republicans are currently bragging about killing the previous administration's climate agenda, which Trump and his allies call the 'Green New Scam.' In terms of specifics about the Texas floods, local residents and officials, still in shock during TV interviews, said they were caught off-guard by the floods. That may not ultimately be a forecasting issue. 'The weather service did their job,' Rick Spinrad, who was National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator during the Biden administration, told CNN's Boris Sanchez on Monday, referring to the issuance of watches, warnings and 'WEAs,' the Wireless Emergency Alert system. But Spinrad admitted there could have been a breakdown in connectivity between the forecasters and emergency services in the morning. 'On first blush, the communications breakdown happened at that last mile,' he said. The San Antonio National Weather Service office was missing a key coordinator who Spinrad said 'is critical in that last mile of communications.' That position has been vacant since April, when a longtime employee took the Trump administration's buyout offer. Asked about that unfilled position, Leavitt said, 'The offices were fully staffed with forecasters.' Kerrville, Texas, Mayor Joe Herring Jr., told CNN's Pamela Brown on Monday that he lost friends in the floods and that local officials had not gotten word about the severity of the forecast. 'We didn't even have a warning. We did not know,' he said, fighting back tears. CNN's Brown, who reported from Texas, has a personal connection to the story: As a child, she attended Camp Mystic, the girls' camp where the flood claimed the lives of 27, including campers and staffers. 'I do think it's important to have patience and humility that those (answers on what happened) may not come as quickly as perhaps we want,' she said. 'It was a once-in-a-lifetime flood,' she added. Residents knew the river could flood, but people she spoke to are referring to this as 'an act of God.'
CNN
41 minutes ago
- CNN
Analysis: Trump's government cuts and the catastrophe in Texas
President Donald Trump's approach to the federal government has been to cut, cut, cut, which means when there is a disaster in which the government plays a role, he will have to expect questions about those cuts. When there's a plane crash, as there was days into his second term, the shortage of air traffic controllers will be scrutinized. When the administration quietly backtracks on some layoffs and struggles to re-fill key positions, it will lead to concerns that cuts went too far. When there's a tragic flood that catches an area off-guard, the effect of his cuts on the National Weather Service and FEMA will become a line of inquiry. Flash floods killed at least 95 people over the July Fourth holiday, and many others are still missing. Rescue and recovery are still ongoing, so no one can say for sure that personnel cuts at the National Weather Service or open positions at forecasting offices in Texas amplified or even affected the flood's tragic outcome. There are many facts yet to be discovered, and a full investigation will certainly be conducted. Prev Next Recent reports about how staffing and budget cuts are affecting forecasting at the agency may ultimately be seen as an early warning. 'The National Weather Service is in worse shape than previously known, according to interviews with current and former meteorologists, due to a combination of layoffs, early retirements and preexisting vacancies,' CNN's Andrew Freedman wrote back in May. The report also noted that a third of National Weather Service forecasting stations lacked a top meteorologist in charge. CNN reported in April the Trump's administration plans to close weather research laboratories and climate research programs meant to improve weather detection as the climate warms. That budget proposal was more recently submitted to Congress. Project 2025, the conservative government blueprint that presaged many of the Trump administration's decisions, called for much less federal spending on weather forecasting and more reliance on private companies. We also can't say for sure that Trump's hands-off approach to emergency management will affect recovery in Texas. In fact, Trump quickly declared the flood zone to be a major disaster area. But he has also said he wants to shutter the Federal Emergency Management Agency and for the federal government to play a much smaller role. 'We want to wean off of FEMA, and we want to bring it back to the state level,' he said at the White House in June. Asked if Trump is reconsidering that position in light of the horrible Texas floods, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this: 'The president wants to ensure American citizens always have what they need during times of need. Whether that assistance comes from states or the federal government, that's a policy discussion that will continue. And the president has always said he wants states to do as much as they can, if not more.' CNN's Gabe Cohen recently reported that disaster decisions were being made directly at the White House, bypassing FEMA and the well-trod process by which states seek help. It also raises concerns that White House political allies could get more attention than political enemies, although a Department of Homeland Security spokesman denied that idea to Cohen. Wanting the federal government to do less has been a theme of the Trump administration so far. States will either have to pony up more of their own money for Medicaid and food aid or watch citizens fall off assistance as a result of the sweeping new policy bill he signed Friday. We also can't directly blame this or any one storm on climate change. But Republicans are currently bragging about killing the previous administration's climate agenda, which Trump and his allies call the 'Green New Scam.' In terms of specifics about the Texas floods, local residents and officials, still in shock during TV interviews, said they were caught off-guard by the floods. That may not ultimately be a forecasting issue. 'The weather service did their job,' Rick Spinrad, who was National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator during the Biden administration, told CNN's Boris Sanchez on Monday, referring to the issuance of watches, warnings and 'WEAs,' the Wireless Emergency Alert system. But Spinrad admitted there could have been a breakdown in connectivity between the forecasters and emergency services in the morning. 'On first blush, the communications breakdown happened at that last mile,' he said. The San Antonio National Weather Service office was missing a key coordinator who Spinrad said 'is critical in that last mile of communications.' That position has been vacant since April, when a longtime employee took the Trump administration's buyout offer. Asked about that unfilled position, Leavitt said, 'The offices were fully staffed with forecasters.' Kerrville, Texas, Mayor Joe Herring Jr., told CNN's Pamela Brown on Monday that he lost friends in the floods and that local officials had not gotten word about the severity of the forecast. 'We didn't even have a warning. We did not know,' he said, fighting back tears. CNN's Brown, who reported from Texas, has a personal connection to the story: As a child, she attended Camp Mystic, the girls' camp where the flood claimed the lives of 27, including campers and staffers. 'I do think it's important to have patience and humility that those (answers on what happened) may not come as quickly as perhaps we want,' she said. 'It was a once-in-a-lifetime flood,' she added. Residents knew the river could flood, but people she spoke to are referring to this as 'an act of God.'
