Roman Starovoit

Sacked Russian transport minister found dead in his car after disappointing his masters in Moscow

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Of the eight men to have served as Russia's minister of transport since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Roman Starovoit did it for the shortest time. Yet there are more precarious places to hold the transport brief. The 419 days that Starovoit spent in charge of his country's planes, trains and automobiles was longer than the time served by nine British transport secretaries since 1994.

At least they only lost their jobs. Causing political disappointment in Vladimir Putin's Russia is often terminal. Starovoit, who died last week at the age of 53 in an apparent suicide, hours after being dismissed from his position, is the latest in a long line of Russian businessmen and officials who have died suddenly.

On the same day, Andrei Korneichuk, a 42-year-old railways official in his ministry, also died, reportedly of a heart attack. There is no indication the deaths are linked.

Starovoit's body was found on Monday inside his car in the Odintsovsky district of Moscow. The media group RBC reported that a commemorative Makarov pistol was found beside him, which he had been given in 2023 by the minister of internal affairs, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, as a reward for his service as governor of the Kursk region neighbouring Ukraine.