The death of Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit in a field near his luxurious home in the Moscow region has sparked intense speculation about how he died, who was involved, and what it means. Unanswered questions fuel speculation about the deteriorating living conditions of the Kremlin elite. This was reported by the Associated Press, according to UNN.
Details
Among the unanswered questions: did Roman Starovoit really commit suicide in his own car, as the authorities claim, or did he commit suicide in a nearby park? Is a criminal investigation for large-scale corruption being launched against him? And does his death signal increasing demands on the Kremlin elite related to the war in Ukraine?
Russian media are abuzz with news that Starovoit, who was found dead hours after being dismissed by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on Monday, was potentially accused of corruption related to his previous position as governor of the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops launched a surprise invasion last year.
His death drew comparisons to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's purges, during which some high-ranking Kremlin officials committed suicide to avoid arrest.
Starovoit's former deputy, who replaced him as Kursk governor, was arrested in April on charges of embezzling state funds allocated for the construction of fortifications on the border with Ukraine, and Russian media reported that he testified against his former boss. Russian authorities have not announced a criminal case against Starovoit.
Observers say Starovoit's death highlighted a deepening rift and tension within the government as the full-scale war in Ukraine approaches its 3.5-year mark.
Russian officials are increasingly trapped in a wartime environment that has "made the interests of once influential figures petty" and made "everything subservient to the strict logic of system survival."
Some observers noted that this is the first suicide of a member of the Russian Cabinet since the suicide of USSR Interior Minister Boris Pugo after the failed coup in August 1991.
Many also pointed to a series of recent mysterious suicides involving executives of Russian state oil and gas companies, including Andrei Badalov, vice president of the state oil pipeline operator Transneft, who reportedly fell from his Moscow apartment window last week.
Starovoit was reportedly linked to the Rotenberg brothers, long-time personal friends of Putin who have significant business interests in transport. Many observers saw their inability to protect their protégé as a powerful new sign that old ties no longer work.
The prospect of arrest is literally beginning to kill representatives of the Kremlin system, as the war expands old criteria for the unforgivable. Now, anything that "increases the state's vulnerability to hostile enemy actions must be punished without mercy or compromise."
Recall
On Monday, July 7, in the morning, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin dismissed Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit. By noon of the same day, Starovoit was already dead. His body was found in a park on the outskirts of Moscow with a gunshot wound to the head.