Why the death of the Minister of Transportation of Russia serves as a warning for the political elite of the Putin environment

Román Starovoit during a meeting with Putin. — Photo foot, Román Starovoit was found dead on the same day he was fired.

- Author, Steve Rosenberg
- Author's title, Editor of Russia of the BBC
1 hour

On Monday morning, President Vladimir Putin dismissed his Minister of Transportation, Román Starovoit.

For the afternoon, Starovoit was dead; His body was discovered in a park on the outskirts of Moscow with a gunshot wound in the head. Supposedly, a gun was found next to the body.

The researchers said they presumed that the former minister had taken his life.

In the “Moskovsky Komsomolets” tabloid this Tuesday morning a feeling of shock was perceived.

“The suicide of Roman Starovoit just a few hours after the president's dismissal order is an almost unique fact in the history of Russia,” said the newspaper.

This is because you have to go back more than thirty years, before the fall of the Soviet Union, to find an example of a government minister who takes his life.

In August 1991, after the failure of the coup d'etat of the Hard Line communists, one of the leaders of the coup, Soviet Interior Minister Borís Pugo, shot.

The Kremlin has said little about Starovoit's death.

“How shocked did you feel that a federal minister was found dead just a few hours after being fired by the president?” I asked Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, at a Kremlin telephone conference.

“Normal people can't help feeling shocked by this,” Peskov replied. “Of course, he also shocked us.”

“It is up to the investigation to answer all the questions. While it is ongoing, it can only be speculated. But that is more for the media and political analysts. Not for us.”

The Russian press, in fact, has been full of speculation.

Press speculation

Russian President Vladimir Putin. — Photo foot, Putin had dismissed Starovoit hours before life was taken.

This Tuesday, several Russian newspapers linked what happened to Román Starovoit with the events in the Kursk region, which limits with Ukraine. Before his appointment as Minister of Transportation in May 2024, Starovoit was Kursk regional governor for more than five years.

With great sums of money from the State, Governor Starovoit initiated the construction of defensive fortifications along the border. These were not strong enough to prevent Ukrainian troops from breaking into the Kursk region last year and made with part of their territory.

Since then, the successor of Starovoit as governor, Alexéi Smirnov, and his former vice minister Alexéi Finger has been arrested and accused of large -scale fraud in relation to the construction of fortifications.

“Mr. Starovoit could have become one of the main defendants in this case,” he suggested an article from the “Kommersant” business newspaper.

Russian authorities have not confirmed that.

But, if it was the fear of persecution that led a former minister to take his life, what tells us about today's Russia?

“The most dramatic part of this, with all the re-structalization that has been happening in Russia in recent years, is that a high-level government official (takes away life) because it has no other way to get out of the system,” says Nina Khrushcheva, international issues professor in international affairs in The New School In New York.

“He must have feared that he would receive dozens of years in prison if he was going to be investigated, and that his family would suffer greatly. So there is no way out. I immediately thought of Sergó Ordzhonikidze, one of Stalin's ministers, who (took his life) in 1937 because he felt there was no way out. When you start comparing 1937 in the current environment, it gives you much to think.”

The death of Román Starovoit could have occupied the headlines of the newspapers here. But this “almost unique fact in Russia's history” has received minimal coverage on state television.

Perhaps it is because Kremlin recognizes the power of television to mold public opinion. In Russia, television is more influential than newspapers. Therefore, when it comes to television, authorities tend to be more careful and cautious with messages.

The main news bulletin on Monday night in Russia-1 included a four-minute report on the designation of a new interim transport minister, Andréi Nikitin, by Putin.

It was not mentioned at all that the previous Minister of Transportation had been dismissed. Or that had been found dead.

Only forty minutes later, towards the end of the newsletter, the presenter briefly mentioned the death of Román Starovoit.

A few seconds on TV

The news presenter dedicated a total of 18 seconds, which means that most Russians will probably not see the dramatic events on Monday as a significant fact.

For the political elite, it is a different story. For ministers, governors and other Russian officials who have sought to be part of the political system, which happened to Starovoit will serve as a warning.

“Unlike before, when these jobs could be achieved, become rich, ascend of regional level at the federal level, today, that is clearly not a professional career if you want to remain alive,” says Nina Khrushcheva.

“Not only is there no ascending mobility to begin with, but even descending mobility ends with death,” he adds.

It is a reminder of the dangers that emanate from falling out of favor in the Russian system.