Minister of Transport Roman Starovoy likely killed himself hours after being fired by President Vladimir Putin.

Russia’s transport minister was found dead Monday in what authorities called a suspected suicide, hours after he was dismissed from his post by President Vladimir Putin. Roman Starovoyt, 53, was found in his car in a suburb west of Moscow with a gunshot wound, Russia’s Investigative Committee said.

Roman V. Starovoyt, the transport minister, had governed Russia’s western Kursk region before Ukrainian forces invaded in 2024 and occupied part of the territory.