Russia's former Transport Minister found dead with 'gunshot wound' just HOURS after Vladimir Putin sacked him after 'loss of trust'

Roman Starovoit, the ex-governor of the Kursk region, has been reported to have taken his own life in the Odintsovo city district.

The circumstances surrounding Starovoit's death are being investigated.

The Investigative Committee of Russia released a statement on Monday.

It read: "The body of the former minister of transport of the Russian Federation, Roman Vladimirovich Starovoit, was discovered in his personal vehicle with a gunshot wound today in the Odintsovo city district."

The statement added: "The main version is suicide."

Starovoyt served as the Minister of Transport since May last year.

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The ex-minister had been fired from his role after just over a year in the role, it was revealed on Monday.

The Kremlin provided no official reason for the dismissal.

Prior to his appointment, he had spent nearly five years as governor of the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine.

Starovoyt held the position of governor when Russia illegally launched an invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Three months after he left the position, Ukrainian troops crossed the border into Kursk in the biggest foreign incursion into Russian territory since World War Two.

European forces were only pushed out earlier this year.

Speaking on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "a loss of trust is mentioned if there is a loss of trust".

Pressed earlier on Monday by reporters on whether his dismissal meant Putin had lost trust in Starovoit over Kursk, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "a loss of trust is mentioned if there is a loss of trust".

He added: "There is no such wording in the (Kremlin) decree."

Just days ago, Putin's Russia carried out its largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the start of the war.

Ukraine's air force was forced to contend with some 477 drones and 60 missiles hurtling towards its cities, with a spokesman calling it "the most massive airstrike" since February 2022.

Russia now controls as much as a fifth of Ukraine, an area larger than Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland combined.