Former Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit has committed suicide on the day of his dismissal.
Starovoit's death was confirmed by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. They reported that the former minister's body with a gunshot wound was found in the Odintsovo municipal district in his personal car. Russian investigators say they are investigating the circumstances of his death.
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Telegram channels report that a firearm was found next to the body, and the preliminary cause of Starovoit's suicide is a possible criminal case involving violations during the construction of fortifications in Kursk Oblast.
Mash reports that Starovoit signed a decision by the region's operational headquarters to allow the Kursk Oblast Development Corporation to spend 19 billion roubles (US$241 million) and select subcontractors itself.
In addition, the investigation is checking the possibility of Starovoit's involvement in violations in the procurement of medicines for hospitals in the oblast and in the "failed transport reform" in Kursk, which failed to repair tram tracks and deliver new carriages.

Starovoit was testified against by the former head of Kursk Oblast, Alexei Smirnov, who was arrested in a case involving the embezzlement of 1 billion roubles (US$12 million). The same was done by the former director general of the corporation, Vladimir Lukin, and former Kursk head deputy Maxim Vasilyev, who was involved in the construction business. Both are currently in pre-trial detention.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin dismissed Starovoit on the morning of 7 July.