Preparations for the funeral at the Smolenskoye Cemetery in St. Petersburg on 11 July 2025. Photo: Novaya Gazeta Europe

A closed funeral ceremony was held in St. Petersburg on Friday for Roman Starovoyt, the former head of Russia’s Transport Ministry who was found dead earlier this week after reportedly taking his own life following his dismissal as minister by Vladimir Putin.

The ceremony was attended by Alexander Drozdenko, governor of northwestern Russia’s Leningrad region, as well as some of Starovoyt’s former colleagues at the Transport Ministry, according to Telegram news channel Ostorozhno Novosti.

Starovoyt, 53, was discovered on Monday with a fatal gunshot wound in a car parked near his residence in Odintsovo, a western Moscow suburb. According to the Russian investigative committee, Starovoyt committed suicide in his car, just hours after he was officially replaced as transport minister by Andrey Nikitin, his former deputy, via a decree signed by Putin posted to the Kremlin website.

Men carry Starovoyt’s awards before his funeral in St. Petersburg on 11 July 2025. Photo: Novaya Gazeta Europe

However, a report by state-affiliated daily RBC appeared to contradict the Investigative Committee’s information, with sources telling the outlet that Starovoyt’s body had been found as early as Saturday — two days before the Kremlin’s official announcement of his dismissal.

According to VCHK-OGPU, a Telegram channel with ties to Russian security services, Starovoyt — who served as governor of the southwestern Kursk region from 2019 to 2024 — was facing imminent criminal charges for the embezzlement of roughly 15 billion rubles (€162 million) tied to contracts for building fortifications along the region’s border with Ukraine.

On Thursday, a memorial service was held for Starovoyt in Moscow, with several high-ranking government ministers in attendance amidst a heavy police presence, including two Russian deputy prime ministers and Starovoyt’s successor as transport minister, Andrey Nikitin.

Putin did not attend the memorial service, as Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday, because he had “other things on his work schedule”.