Russia's ex-transport minister found dead hours after Putin fired him

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Russia's Minister of Transport reportedly killed himself conscionable hours aft being fired by President Vladimir Putin, according to the country's state-run quality agency, which cited the nationalist Investigative Committee. A 2nd elder Transport Ministry authoritative reportedly died soon after, for reasons which stay unclear.

Roman Starovoy fatally changeable himself Monday successful his car successful Odintsovo, a metropolis westbound of Moscow, according to a connection from the committee that was reported by Russia's TASS quality agency.

"The circumstances of the incidental are being established," TASS cited the Investigative Committee arsenic saying. "The main proposal is suicide."

Forbes Russia reported that Starovoy, 53, died "presumably overnight betwixt Saturday and Sunday," citing an anonymous root adjacent to authorities investigators. It was not imaginable to explicate the discrepancy betwixt the times of decease reported by Forbes and the authoritative Russian media.

Russian Minister of Transport Roman Starovoit attends a gathering with Russian President Vladimir Putin, successful Moscow

Putin had dismissed Starovoy conscionable hours earlier, according to a decree published by the Kremlin. No authoritative crushed was given, but ongoing Ukranian drone attacks connected Russia caused chaos for aerial postulation successful the state implicit the weekend, prompting the cancellation of hundreds of flights and stranding passengers.

Russia's Ministry of Defense claimed to person intercepted astatine slightest 120 drones implicit 10 antithetic regions of the state betwixt Saturday nighttime and Sunday morning.

Officials successful Ukraine, meanwhile, said Monday that astatine slightest 11 civilians were killed and much than 80 others injured, including 7 children, successful Russian drone attacks. Russia has intensified its rocket and drone strikes, including galore that deed civilian areas, successful caller days.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that implicit the past week alone, Russia had launched astir 1,270 drones, 39 missiles and astir 1,000 glide bombs astatine Ukraine.

Starovoy became Russia's Transport Minister successful 2024, earlier which helium was the politician of the Kursk portion connected the borderline with Ukraine.

Another authoritative reportedly "stood up sharply… and fell dead"

Soon aft Starovoy's decease was reported by Russian media, a lower-ranking authoritative whose occupation fell wrong the remit of the Transport Ministry, 42-year-old Andrei Korneichuk, was said to person died abruptly during a meeting.

At his bureau successful eastbound Moscow, Korneichuk, who was the lawman caput of the Federal Road Agency's Land Fund Department, "stood up sharply during a gathering and fell dead," according to the SHOT quality outlet, which is believed to beryllium adjacent to .

"The medics could not assistance him," SHOT added. The autarkic Russian paper Novaya Gazeta said astatine slightest 2 different Russian government-linked quality outlets had reported the aforesaid basal details.

The preliminary origin of decease was determined to beryllium cardiac arrest, according to the media outlets cited by the Gazeta.

The 2 deaths travel conscionable days aft that of the vice-president of Russian authorities lipid institution Transneft.

The assemblage of Andrei Badalov, 62, was recovered "beneath the model of a house" successful occidental Moscow connected Friday, TASS cited instrumentality enforcement officials arsenic saying. The authorities quality bureau said helium had written a farewell connection to his wife.

The cases are conscionable the latest successful a drawstring of high-profile, almighty Russians dying suddenly, often successful evident falls from windows oregon different incidents.

Ivan Kashchenko contributed to this report.