Russia: minister fired - and found dead
Russia's Transport Minister Roman Starovoit was fired from his post on Monday without explanation. A few hours later he was found shot dead in his car. Investigations into his death are still underway but the authorities are treating it as suicide. Commentators link the incident with theincursion of Ukrainian troops into Russia's Kursk region in 2024, where Starovoit had been governor since 2019.
Endemic corruption
This incident is likely the result of a bribery scandal, Corriere della Sera surmises:
“In the Kursk region, where Starovit had been governor, his successor Alexei Smirnov, who is prison on charges of embezzlement, is believed to have testified against him, saying that he received about 15 billion rubles in bribes, which is the equivalent of around 160 million euros today. ... The money changed hands during the failed construction of fortifications that were meant to prevent occupation by Ukrainian troops. In the end it always comes back to the word that seems to have become a taboo since the beginning of the 'military special operation': corruption.”
Corruption is excusable - disloyalty is not
Dagens Nyheter also sees a connection with events in the Kursk region, albeit indirect:
“Smirnov named Starvoit in an interrogation, according to Russian Telegram channels. ... He is believed to have blamed him for any shortcomings and misappropriations of the region's defence budget. This prompted Putin to sack Starovoit immediately and without explanation. The incident teaches us and the Russian elite that there is no position too high and no fortune too large to protect it from vanishing overnight. Corruption and incompetence are tolerable as long as there is unwavering loyalty. But the moment the power and image of the leader is threatened – even indirectly – it's curtains.”
Run away as fast as you can!
In a Telegram post published by Echo, investigative journalist Maria Pevchikh issues words of advice to high-ranking officials:
“Run for all you're worth, jump into your private jets, take your families, your Thai masseuses, your French au pairs - and go to hell. Once you have escaped, sit down at the table, switch on the cameras and start talking. Give us Putin, warts and all: all his schemes, his crimes, in which you were involved or which you know about. ... Only then will you have a tiny chance of relative safety. Otherwise it's either the gulag or a fate as inglorious as this one: blasting your brains out behind a bush with a customised pistol.”