Crimes and testimony: is Starovoit's suicide related to embezzlement in the Kursk region

The name of former Transport Minister Roman Starovoit appeared in "direct testimony" on corruption cases, a source close to law enforcement agencies told Izvestia. They could have been given by Alexey Smirnov, the ex-governor of the Kursk region, who was arrested in April 2025 in a case of embezzlement of budget funds allocated for the construction of defensive structures in the region. Starovoit's body was found on July 7 near a park in the village of Romashkovo, Odintsovo district. The UK calls suicide the main version of his death. An award-winning pistol was found next to the body. Experts agree that the reason for the act could be fear of criminal prosecution and a possible conviction. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Testimony against Roman Starovoit

On Monday, July 7, former Transport Minister Roman Starovoit committed suicide. Izvestia's sources were the first to report this, and later the Investigative Committee reported on this version of the circumstances of his death.

"Today, the body of Roman Vladimirovich Starovoit, former Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, with a gunshot wound, was found in a private car in Odintsovo city district," the Investigative Committee said in an official statement. — The investigative authorities of the GSU of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Moscow region are working on the spot, the circumstances of the incident are being established. The main version is suicide."

Later, more detailed information appeared, according to which Roman Starovoit's body was found not in the car itself, but in a thicket, a dozen meters from the parking lot, which is located near a park in the village of Romashkovo, Odintsovo district. Experts believe that the ex-minister got out of his Tesla, stepped aside and committed suicide there. An award-winning pistol was found next to him, a source told Izvestia.

The video from the scene shows that the parking lot with the parked Tesla is cordoned off, experts are examining the car in which the former official was traveling. According to the sources of the publication, the car was registered to the first deputy head of the Caucasus Highway Department of the Federal Highway Agency, Anzor Zubkaev.

Starovoit held the post of minister for about a little more than a year. Before heading the Ministry of Transport, he was the governor of the Kursk region for about five and a half years.

A source in the Investigative Committee told Izvestia that Starovoit had "direct testimony" on corruption cases. According to the interlocutors of the publication, this testimony could have been given by another ex-governor of the Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov. Until May 2024, he was Starovoit's deputy in the regional administration, then replaced him as governor, and on April 15, 2025, he was detained in a case of embezzlement of budget funds allocated for the construction of defensive structures in the Kursk region.

Supervisors and law enforcement agencies began to take an interest in the implementation of this project in early 2025. In January, the Prosecutor General's Office filed a lawsuit, demanding to recover 3.2 billion rubles from the management of the Kursk Region Development Corporation (KRCO) and its contractors. It was about funds allocated from the federal budget to the government of the region for the construction of structures to "protect the country from the military aggression of Ukraine" — dugouts, firing points, strong points, and dragon's teeth barrages. A total of 19.4 billion rubles were allocated for these purposes.

The leaders of the KRKO, according to the lawsuit, concluded contracts for the creation of fortifications with their controlled legal entities, and then withdrew funds through one-day firms. The region has a special, simplified regime for concluding contracts with contractors, which allows them to be concluded without competitive procedures. On March 20, the court granted the claim of the Prosecutor General's Office and recovered more than 4.1 billion rubles from the former officials.

And in April 2025, law enforcement agencies detained ex-governor Alexei Smirnov and his first deputy Alexei Dedov. According to investigators, they, together with the leadership of the Kursk Region Development Corporation, organized the embezzlement of budget funds allocated for the construction of fortifications on the border with Ukraine.

Another episode related to the criminal prosecution of people from Roman Starovoit's entourage happened already when he was Minister of Transport. In May 2025, Vladimir Lugovenko, then deputy director of the Department of State Policy in the field of automobile and urban passenger transport at the Ministry of Transport, was charged. He was accused of abuse of office and cartel conspiracy with businesses to restrict competition. It was about "helping" businessmen in 2019-2021 in the development of documents on transport planning in the regions. On July 1, 2025, his preventive measure, arrest, was extended for three months.

What is the reason for Starovoit's suicide?

Roman Starovoit's possible suicide is highly likely related to potential criminal cases, political analyst Yevgeny Minchenko believes.

— The man decided that at the age of "50+" another ten years in prison is a below—average pleasure. Plus, it's a humiliation and an insult. This will not bring big dividends for the image of the government and the executive branch as a whole," the expert told Izvestia.

If a person commits suicide, then he must be afraid of something more than death, for example, dishonor, political scientist Dmitry Zhuravlev agrees.

"So there are either some large—scale crimes, or very large-scale obligations to someone that they cannot fulfill," he clarifies.

As Minchenko notes, there are three types of suicides among the elite: because of the high probability of going to prison for a long time, because of an incurable disease and because of personal problems.

Today, Russia is actively pursuing a policy of combating corruption, Dmitry Zhuravlev recalled.

— Such processes directly affect both the regions and the federal center. The special operation could have become one of the key factors that led to a significant increase in tension in the system of relations between senior officials," he believes. — What used to get away with, doesn't get away with now.

And Evgeny Minchenko recalled a series of anti-corruption investigations against officials of the Ministry of Defense.

—Ministers, regional authorities, and mayors alike — no one can be calm today," he said.