Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed that the body of Roman Starovoit, the recently sacked transport minister, was found in his personal vehicle outside his home in the town of Odintsovo in the Moscow region, according to Russian news outlet The Insider and Belarusian opposition outlet.

Starovoit, who also served as the governor of Russia’s Kursk region before his appointment as transport minister, suffered from a gunshot wound.

On Sunday, there were at least one, possibly two, explosions on board the Eco Wizard liquid gas tanker, which was badly damaged while moored in the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga.

This was the sixth such incident this year involving vessels departing Russian ports. Previously, on June 30, the Vilamoura, carrying a million barrels of oil, was damaged by an explosion in the engine room off the coast of Libya.

The Moscow Times reported on Monday that Starovoit was sacked by Russian President Vladimir Putin after being held responsible for both the tanker-related incidents and the growing chaos at major Russian airports because of Ukrainian drone attacks.

Starovoit was made Russia’s transportation minister in May 2024. He previously served as the governor of the Kursk region from 2019 to 2024, while also acting as the deputy transport minister and the head of the Federal Road Agency.

According to the 112 Telegram channel, Starovoit’s successor as governor of Kursk, Alexei Smirnov, had recently been arrested on charges of embezzlement of funds intended for the construction of border fortifications, and, in turn, had testified on Starovoit’s involvement in the scheme.

On Saturday, the body of Transneft Vice President Andrey Badalov was found at the foot of his 10-story apartment near Moscow’s Rublevskoye Highway, which Russian authorities also put down to suicide, according to TASS.

The Russian news agency Novaya Gazeta, citing the Baza Telegram channel, said Badlaov was the 17th senior Russian businessman to have died under suspicious circumstances since the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, where the majority of deaths were put down as self-inflicted.

Several of those were senior officials and executives also under investigation for corruption in top Russian companies, including the Russian giant Gazprom, as well as the Defense Ministry and Russian special services – at least four had “fallen” from hotels and apartments, with others suffering from gunshot wounds.