The Russian investigation committee said former Russian transport minister Roman Starovoit was found dead, apparently with a gunshot wound.
Vladimir Putin was fired earlier on Monday.
No reason to be fired, Deputy Minister of Transport Andrei Nikitin was declared his backup.
The Commission of Inquiry said it is working to determine the situation of the incident.
Starovoit was appointed Minister of Transport in May 2024.
Before becoming Minister of Transport, Starovoit served as governor of the Kursk region for nearly 9 years until May 2024.
The area was occupied by Ukrainian troops in August 2024 with a stunning offensive. Moscow only managed to drive out Ukrainian troops, although in late June, Kiev said it still occupied a small portion of its territory within Russia.
Starovoit’s successor, Aleksey Smirnov, appeared in just a short time. He was arrested in April and later charged with misappropriating allocated funds that had been allocated to establish fortifications with the Ukrainian border.
According to Russian media Kommersant, Starovoit is about to become a defendant in the same case.
It is not clear when Starovoit died.
Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Defense Commission, told Russia export RTVI that his death was “long ago.”
Earlier on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was pressured by reporters on whether the sacking means Putin lost trust in Kursk’s activities.
Peskov replied: “If you lose trust, you mention losing trust. Don’t use this wording (in the Kremlin decree).
