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CNN
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
What the firing and death of a transport minister reveals about Putin's Russia
As scattered details of the apparent suicide of Russia's former transport minister Roman Starovoit trickled in via state media on Monday, one stood out. Near his body, the Kommersant newspaper reported, investigators found a Glock pistol that Starovoit had been given as an award. In October 2023, in his previous job as governor of Russia's Kursk region, Starovoit was pictured in a local news article being presented with a velvet-boxed firearm from the region's interior ministry for his role in maintaining security there. Fast forward 21 months and his death came amid reports he may have been doing the exact opposite. Two sources told Reuters he was suspected of being involved in a scheme to embezzle millions of dollars earmarked for border defenses. Defenses that would undoubtedly have come in useful when Ukrainian troops launched a surprise invasion there last August. There's no way of knowing if it was the same pistol, and it's not clear yet if the corruption case had anything to do with his firing (no official reason was given) or his death. But the image it creates of a state-sponsored self-destruction, of a once rising star in Vladimir Putin's political elite dead near his Tesla, with the spoils of his former loyalty, is especially poignant in today's Russia. More than three years into Putin's unprovoked war on Ukraine, the Kremlin's political vice is tightening again. Fealty to the regime is no guarantee of safety, and there are fewer places to hide from increasingly brutal consequences. For Russians with long memories, old fears are rising. 'There's a smell of Stalinism from this story,' wrote exiled Russian dissident Ilya Yashin on X. And that stench is permeating beyond the halls of the transport ministry. With Putin now settled into the second year of his fifth presidential term, the Kremlin has in recent weeks been moving to shut down any remaining threats. In mid-June Russia's supreme court banned the opposition 'Civic Initiative' party, which had unsuccessfully attempted to field the only anti-war candidate – Boris Nadezhdin – in the 2024 presidential race. The court accused it of failing to take part in elections for seven years. 'It's a tragic farce situation,' party leader Andrey Nechaev told supporters on Telegram last month. 'First they ban us from participating in elections for fabricated reasons, then they accuse us of not participating in them,' he said. Independent election monitoring, already on its last legs in Russia, may now also be a thing of the past. On Tuesday, Golos, Russia's only remaining independent election watchdog, announced it was closing down. The decision, it said, came after its co-chair Grigory Melkonyants was sentenced to five years in prison in late May, after a court found him guilty of running activities for European election monitoring network ENEMO, deemed by Russia to be an 'undesirable organization.' Golos denies the charge, but said the verdict put all its participants at risk of criminal prosecution. The Golos case, opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza argues in a Washington Post op-ed, smacks of another Putin trademark: holding long-term grievances and meting out delayed retribution. Kara-Murza believes that Golos' original sin was not in 2024, but in documenting widespread parliamentary election violations in 2011, the year Putin announced he would return to the presidency after a brief hiatus as prime minister. The protests that followed were the biggest since the fall of the Soviet Union. 'It was a real scare for Putin, his moment of greatest weakness,' writes Kara-Murza. 'And he never forgave those who, as he put it, attempted a 'color revolution' in Russia. This is the real reason for Grigory Melkonyants's prison sentence.' And it's not just politics where the pressure is rising. On Saturday, Konstantin Strukov, the head of Yuzhuralzoloto, one of Russia's largest gold mining companies, was arrested while trying to leave the country on his private jet, according to Kommersant. A few days earlier, Russia's prosecutor general had launched a legal bid to nationalize the company, alleging Strukov had used a regional government position to acquire control of the company, among other violations. If the post-Soviet years saw a wholesale redistribution of property away from the Russian state through rapid privatization, the Ukraine war years are characterized by the reverse. Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, calls it 'the biggest redistribution of wealth in Russia in three decades.' And the purpose, she says, is 'to increase loyalty to Putin.' And there's no attempt to mask the scent of Soviet-style control here. In March, Russia's prosecutor general reported to Putin that companies worth 2.4 trillion rubles (over $30bn) had been transferred to the state, part of an effort 'to not allow the use of private enterprises against state interests.' Roman Starovoit's death had echoes and notable differences to that of Gorbachev's interior minister-turned-coup plotter Boris Pugo, who killed himself in August 1991 when his rebellion collapsed and he faced arrest. In the chaos of the early 90s, details leaked out freely about his death, his wife's attempted suicide and even the notes they left. The almost airtight information zone of Putin's presidency makes it much harder to discern what exactly happened to mister Starovoit, and why. But for Russians, it's a graphic reminder that wealth and power carry increasing risks, as the Kremlin closes ranks for what it sees as a long-term confrontation with the West.
CNN
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
What the firing and death of a transport minister reveals about Putin's Russia
As scattered details of the apparent suicide of Russia's former transport minister Roman Starovoit trickled in via state media on Monday, one stood out. Near his body, the Kommersant newspaper reported, investigators found a Glock pistol that Starovoit had been given as an award. In October 2023, in his previous job as governor of Russia's Kursk region, Starovoit was pictured in a local news article being presented with a velvet-boxed firearm from the region's interior ministry for his role in maintaining security there. Fast forward 21 months and his death came amid reports he may have been doing the exact opposite. Two sources told Reuters he was suspected of being involved in a scheme to embezzle millions of dollars earmarked for border defenses. Defenses that would undoubtedly have come in useful when Ukrainian troops launched a surprise invasion there last August. There's no way of knowing if it was the same pistol, and it's not clear yet if the corruption case had anything to do with his firing (no official reason was given) or his death. But the image it creates of a state-sponsored self-destruction, of a once rising star in Vladimir Putin's political elite dead near his Tesla, with the spoils of his former loyalty, is especially poignant in today's Russia. More than three years into Putin's unprovoked war on Ukraine, the Kremlin's political vice is tightening again. Fealty to the regime is no guarantee of safety, and there are fewer places to hide from increasingly brutal consequences. For Russians with long memories, old fears are rising. 'There's a smell of Stalinism from this story,' wrote exiled Russian dissident Ilya Yashin on X. And that stench is permeating beyond the halls of the transport ministry. With Putin now settled into the second year of his fifth presidential term, the Kremlin has in recent weeks been moving to shut down any remaining threats. In mid-June Russia's supreme court banned the opposition 'Civic Initiative' party, which had unsuccessfully attempted to field the only anti-war candidate – Boris Nadezhdin – in the 2024 presidential race. The court accused it of failing to take part in elections for seven years. 'It's a tragic farce situation,' party leader Andrey Nechaev told supporters on Telegram last month. 'First they ban us from participating in elections for fabricated reasons, then they accuse us of not participating in them,' he said. Independent election monitoring, already on its last legs in Russia, may now also be a thing of the past. On Tuesday, Golos, Russia's only remaining independent election watchdog, announced it was closing down. The decision, it said, came after its co-chair Grigory Melkonyants was sentenced to five years in prison in late May, after a court found him guilty of running activities for European election monitoring network ENEMO, deemed by Russia to be an 'undesirable organization.' Golos denies the charge, but said the verdict put all its participants at risk of criminal prosecution. The Golos case, opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza argues in a Washington Post op-ed, smacks of another Putin trademark: holding long-term grievances and meting out delayed retribution. Kara-Murza believes that Golos' original sin was not in 2024, but in documenting widespread parliamentary election violations in 2011, the year Putin announced he would return to the presidency after a brief hiatus as prime minister. The protests that followed were the biggest since the fall of the Soviet Union. 'It was a real scare for Putin, his moment of greatest weakness,' writes Kara-Murza. 'And he never forgave those who, as he put it, attempted a 'color revolution' in Russia. This is the real reason for Grigory Melkonyants's prison sentence.' And it's not just politics where the pressure is rising. On Saturday, Konstantin Strukov, the head of Yuzhuralzoloto, one of Russia's largest gold mining companies, was arrested while trying to leave the country on his private jet, according to Kommersant. A few days earlier, Russia's prosecutor general had launched a legal bid to nationalize the company, alleging Strukov had used a regional government position to acquire control of the company, among other violations. If the post-Soviet years saw a wholesale redistribution of property away from the Russian state through rapid privatization, the Ukraine war years are characterized by the reverse. Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, calls it 'the biggest redistribution of wealth in Russia in three decades.' And the purpose, she says, is 'to increase loyalty to Putin.' And there's no attempt to mask the scent of Soviet-style control here. In March, Russia's prosecutor general reported to Putin that companies worth 2.4 trillion rubles (over $30bn) had been transferred to the state, part of an effort 'to not allow the use of private enterprises against state interests.' Roman Starovoit's death had echoes and notable differences to that of Gorbachev's interior minister-turned-coup plotter Boris Pugo, who killed himself in August 1991 when his rebellion collapsed and he faced arrest. In the chaos of the early 90s, details leaked out freely about his death, his wife's attempted suicide and even the notes they left. The almost airtight information zone of Putin's presidency makes it much harder to discern what exactly happened to mister Starovoit, and why. But for Russians, it's a graphic reminder that wealth and power carry increasing risks, as the Kremlin closes ranks for what it sees as a long-term confrontation with the West.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Russian Transport Minister's death fuels speculation about harsher environment for Kremlin elites
The death of a Russian Cabinet Minister in a field near his posh home in a Moscow suburb has fuelled wild speculation about how he died and what it means. Among the unanswered questions: Did Roman Starovoit really kill himself in his car, as authorities said, or did he take his life in a nearby park? Was he facing a criminal investigation into large-scale corruption? And does his death signal a new, harsher environment for Kremlin elites related to the war in Ukraine? Russian media was abuzz with claims that Starovoit, who was found dead hours after being fired on Monday (July 7, 2025) by President Vladimir Putin, had faced potential corruption charges linked to his previous job as governor of the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces staged a surprise incursion last year. His death drew quick comparisons to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's purges in which some top Kremlin officials killed themselves rather than risk arrest. Starovoit's former Deputy, who succeeded him as Kursk Governor, was arrested in April on charges of embezzling state money allocated for building fortifications on the border with Ukraine, and Russian media reports claimed that he testified against his former boss. Russian authorities have not announced any criminal case against Starovoit. Observers say Starovoit's death highlighted the deepening rifts and tensions within the government as the full-scale war in Ukraine approaches its 3½-year mark. Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center said members of Russian officialdom have found themselves increasingly trapped by the war environment, which 'has made the interests of once-influential figures look small" and made "everything subordinate to the harsh logic of the system's survival.' Suspicion arises over Minister's death Starovoit, who served as Transport Minister for just over a year, was found dead from a gunshot wound. He was 53. Controversy immediately surrounded the death. The Investigative Committee, the country's top criminal investigation agency, said Starovoit's body was found in his car in the Odintsovo district just west of the capital that is home to many members of the Russian elite. The committee said a criminal probe was launched and that investigators saw suicide as the most likely cause. But Russian media reported that his body was actually found in the bushes near a parking lot where he left his Tesla, and authorities allowed reporters to record morgue workers carrying it from the site. A pistol presented to him as an official gift was at his side. It was unclear when he died. The Investigative Committee did not offer a time of death, and some media outlets claimed that he killed himself over the weekend. When the first unconfirmed reports about Starovoit's death emerged on Monday afternoon, lawmaker Andrei Kartapolov told news outlet RTVI that Starovoit killed himself 'quite a while ago'. The business daily Kommersant quoted some of the Minister's associates as saying that he showed up in his office on Monday, just before Mr. Putin's decree dismissing him was published, and he later posted a farewell message on the Ministry's group chat. Some observers noted that it marked the first suicide by a Cabinet member since Soviet Interior Minister Boris Pugo killed himself after a botched hard-line coup in August 1991. Many also pointed out a string of recent mysterious suicides involving senior executives at Russian state oil and gas companies, including Andrei Badalov, vice president of the state-controlled Transneft oil pipeline operator, who reportedly fell from the window of his Moscow apartment last week. A cloud of doubt always hung over the official declarations that those deaths were suicides. Some commentators alleged that Starovoit's high-level connections might have feared that he would point the finger at them if arrested. The Kremlin called Starovoit's death 'tragic' but refrained from commenting on the circumstances. Corruption seen as key factor behind Russian military setbacks The alleged embezzlement scheme involving Kursk officials has been named as a key reason behind the Russian military's failure to stem the surprise August 2024 incursion into the region by Ukrainian troops. The attack dealt a humiliating blow to the Kremlin, and it took nearly nine months for the Russian military to reclaim the border territory. Starovoit's death and the corruption allegations in Kursk follow a string of corruption cases that have been widely blamed for Russian military setbacks in Ukraine. On July 1, former Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov was convicted on charges of embezzlement and money laundering and sentenced to 13 years in prison. On Monday, Khalil Arslanov, a former Deputy Chief of the military's General Staff, was handed a 17-year sentence on corruption charges. They were among a dozen top military officials close to former Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu who were targeted in a wide-ranging probe into alleged military graft. Mr. Shoigu, a veteran official who had personal ties to Mr. Putin, survived the purge of his inner circle and was given a high-profile post as secretary of Russia's Security Council. Mark Galeotti, an expert in Russian politics who heads the Mayak Intelligence consultancy, observed in a recent podcast that high-level corruption in Russia was getting worse because of the war. He warned that at some point in the future an 'angry patriot' could try to tell the public that the nation has 'been let down by this bunch of self-indulgent, self-interested, embezzling old men, and as a result, our boys died.' Starovoit was reportedly linked to the Rotenberg brothers, Mr. Putin's longtime personal friends who have extensive business interests in the transportation sphere. Many observers saw their failure to protect their protégé as a powerful new sign that old connections no longer work. 'The prospect of arrest is literally beginning to kill its representatives as the war is pushing the old criteria of the unforgivable wider,' said Mr. Stanovaya, of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre. Now anything that 'increases the vulnerability of the state to the enemy's hostile action must be punished without mercy or compromise.'
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
‘Signs of torture' found on body of sacked Putin minister who ‘died 24 hours before' apparent suicide
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE Kremlin has been accused of covering up the death of a sacked Russian minister after signs of torture were allegedly found on his body just 24 hours before his apparent suicide. Roman Starovoit, who was Vladimir Putin's transport minister for less than a year, was dismissed from his post on July 7 - just hours before he was found dead, Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 8 Roman Starovoit died just hours after being sacked by Putin 8 Roman Starovoit was presented with a pistol by the Russian Interior Ministry in 2023, a weapon that it is suspected was used to kill him Credit: East2West 8 The Tesla in which Starovoit is said to have shot himself dead, according to Russian police Credit: East2West Telegram channels with links to the Russian security forces reported Starovoit's cause of death as suicide - claiming the minister was found dead with gunshot wounds. However, an independent Russian media outlet now reports that he had been beaten before his death. News outlet SOTA claims that signs of torture were visible on his body. 'Fresh traces of beatings were found on the body of former Kursk governor and ex-Transport Minister Roman Starovoit,' stated the outlet. 'This was reported to Sota by a source who saw Starovoit's body in the morgue. 'According to the same source, the medical report indicates that the death occurred earlier than officially announced.' A source told the Russian news outlet that there was "roughly a 24-hour time difference". If true, it would mean Starovoit was fired after his death. Doubts over his apparent suicide emerged after versions of Starovoit's death from official sources were kept changing. Initial reports claimed his body had been found at his home. Doubts over 'suicide' of sacked Putin minister after haunting pic official with gun appears VERY quickly in state media Russian cops then said Starovoit's body was found having shot himself inside his black Tesla. This changed to the corpse being in his Tesla Model X P100D, an account published by the Russian Investigative Committee, which is in charge of the probe into his death. In fact this was wrong and media accounts established that the body was found in bushes a few yards from his car near the village of Romashkovo in the Odintsovo district, Moscow region. Press reports and photos clearly showed a body being removed from long grass near the electric car. The minister's tearful girlfriend and assistant, Polina Korneeva, 25, a medical graduate, was brought to the scene by law enforcement to identify the corpse before being driven away in his official Aurus limousine. 8 The 53-year-old was fired by Putin Credit: East2West 8 Roman Starovoit's girlfriend Polina Korneeva, 25, who identified his body at the crime scene Credit: East2West 8 Roman Starovoit and Polina Korneeva had been together for several years Credit: Newsflash On the same day, Andrey Korneichuk, deputy head of the Russian Federal Road Agency's Property Management Department, died at the Transportation Ministry's Moscow headquarters. According to Telegram channels with close ties to Russian law enforcement, the 42-year-old official died in his office. He is said to have stood up suddenly, collapsed to the floor, and died. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Russian state media reported that Korneichuk died at his workplace, possibly from 'acute heart failure". Korneichuk reportedly died after news broke that Starovoit had been sacked from his post. There is no indication the deaths are linked. Starovoit's passing is the latest in a string of suspicious deaths of Russian officials, oligarchs and insiders since Putin's invasion of Ukraine began. Many have died in reported suicides, falls from windows or under mysterious circumstances, fuelling speculation about growing instability behind the Kremlin's walls. 8 Russian Minister of Transport Roman Starovoit attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in January Credit: Reuters
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
‘Signs of torture' found on body of sacked Putin minister who ‘died 24 hours before' apparent suicide
THE Kremlin has been accused of covering up the death of a sacked Russian minister after signs of torture were allegedly found on his body just 24 hours before his apparent suicide. Roman Starovoit, who was Vladimir Putin's transport minister for less than a year, was dismissed from his post on July 7 - just hours before he was found dead, Advertisement 8 Roman Starovoit died just hours after being sacked by Putin 8 Roman Starovoit was presented with a pistol by the Russian Interior Ministry in 2023, a weapon that it is suspected was used to kill him Credit: East2West 8 The Tesla in which Starovoit is said to have shot himself dead, according to Russian police Credit: East2West Telegram channels with links to the Russian security forces reported Starovoit's cause of death as suicide - claiming the minister was found dead with gunshot wounds. However, an independent Russian media outlet now reports that he had been beaten before his death. News outlet 'Fresh traces of beatings were found on the body of former Kursk governor and ex-Transport Minister Roman Starovoit,' stated the outlet. Advertisement more on the 'suicide' riddle 'This was reported to Sota by a source who saw Starovoit's body in the morgue. 'According to the same source, the medical report indicates that the death occurred earlier than officially announced.' A source told the Russian news outlet that there was "roughly a 24-hour time difference". If true, it would mean Starovoit was fired after his death. Advertisement Most read in The US Sun Breaking after versions of Starovoit's death from official sources were kept changing. Initial reports claimed his body had been found at his home. Doubts over 'suicide' of sacked Putin minister after haunting pic official with gun appears VERY quickly in state media Russian cops then said Starovoit's body was found having shot himself inside his black Tesla. This changed to the corpse being in his Tesla Model X P100D, an account published by the Russian Investigative Committee, which is in charge of the probe into his death. Advertisement In fact this was wrong and media accounts established that the body was found in bushes a few yards from his car near the village of Romashkovo in the Odintsovo district, Moscow region. Press reports and photos clearly showed a body being removed from long grass near the electric car. The minister's tearful girlfriend and assistant, Polina Korneeva, 25, a medical graduate, was brought to the scene by law enforcement to identify the corpse before being driven away in his official Aurus limousine. 8 The 53-year-old was fired by Putin Credit: East2West Advertisement 8 Roman Starovoit's girlfriend Polina Korneeva, 25, who identified his body at the crime scene Credit: East2West 8 Roman Starovoit and Polina Korneeva had been together for several years Credit: Newsflash On the same day, Andrey Korneichuk, deputy head of the Russian Federal Road Agency's Property Management Department, died at the Transportation Ministry's Moscow headquarters. According to Telegram channels with close ties to Russian law enforcement, the 42-year-old official died in his office. Advertisement He is said to have stood up suddenly, collapsed to the floor, and died. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Russian state media reported that Korneichuk died at his workplace, possibly from 'acute heart failure". Advertisement Korneichuk reportedly died after news broke that Starovoit had been sacked from his post. There is no indication the deaths are linked. Starovoit's passing is the latest in a string of suspicious deaths of Russian officials, oligarchs and insiders since Putin's invasion of Ukraine began. Many have died in reported suicides, falls from windows or under mysterious circumstances, fuelling speculation about growing instability behind the Kremlin's walls. Advertisement 8 Russian Minister of Transport Roman Starovoit attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in January Credit: Reuters 8 Another Transport Ministry official, Andrey Korneichuk, dropped dead on the same day Credit: East2West
