Russia’s Transportation Minister, Roman Starovoit, reportedly took his own life.

Though no information yet on when he died, the minister was found dead from a gunshot wound in an apparent suicide, investigators said Monday July 7, 2025.

The news of his death broke hours after the Kremlin announced he had been dismissed by President Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin did not give a reason for the firing of Roman Starovoit, who served as transport minister since May 2024, and it was unclear when exactly he died and whether it was related to an investigation into alleged corruption, as some Russian media suggested.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, the top criminal investigation agency, said the body of Starovoit, 53, was found with a gunshot wound in his car parked in Odintsovo, a neighborhood just west of the capital where many members of Russia’s elite live.

A gun previously presented to Starovoit as an official gift was found next to his body.

A criminal probe was launched into the death, and investigators saw suicide as the most likely cause, according to committee’s spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko, who did not say when Starovoit died.

Law enforcement agents were seen carrying Starovoit’s body from the site Monday evening.

Andrei Kartapolov, a former deputy defense minister who heads a defense committee in the lower house of parliament, told news outlet, RTVI, that Starovoit killed himself “quite a while ago,” and some Russian media alleged that he may have taken his life before the publication of Putin’s decree firing him.

Starovoit was last seen in public Sunday morning, when an official video from the ministry’s situation room featured him receiving reports from officials.

Speculation swirls over reasons for Starovoit’s dismissal

Russian media have reported that Starovoit’s dismissal could have been linked to an investigation into the embezzlement of state funds allocated for building fortifications in the Kursk region, where he served as governor before becoming transportation minister.

The alleged embezzlement has been cited as one of the reasons for deficiencies in Russia’s defensive lines that failed to stem a surprise Ukrainian incursion in the region launched in August 2024. In the stunning attack, Ukraine’s battle-hardened mechanized units quickly overwhelmed lightly armed Russian border guards and inexperienced army conscripts.

Hundreds were taken prisoner.

The incursion was a humiliating blow to the Kremlin — the first time the country’s territory was occupied by an invader since World War II.

The Russian military had announced its troops had fully reclaimed the border territory in April — nearly nine months after losing chunks of the region.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he could consider deporting Elon Musk, after the South African-born billionaire slammed his flagship spending bill.

Trump also said the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — which Musk headed before stepping down late May — may train its sights on the Tesla and SpaceX founder’s government subsidies.

“I don’t know. We’ll have to take a look,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if he would consider deporting Musk.

“We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.”

Trump doubled down on the threat when he said he believed Musk was attacking his so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” because he was annoyed that it had dropped measures to support electric vehicles (EV).

“He’s losing his EV mandate. He’s very upset about things, but you know, he could lose a lot more than that, I can tell you right now. Elon can lose a lot more than that.”Trump made similar comments on his Truth Social network late Monday, saying that “without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.”

Musk, the world’s richest person, was Trump’s biggest donor in the 2024 election and initially maintained a near constant presence at the newly elected president’s side.

They had an acrimonious public falling out this month over the bill and the tycoon has reprised his criticisms in recent days, accusing Republicans of abandoning efforts to place the United States at the front of the EV and clean energy revolution.

Musk has also renewed his calls for the formation of a new political party called the “America Party” if the bill passed. Punch

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has stated that Iran is willing to halt its military response against Israel if the latter stops its “illegal aggression.”

This is coming after the US President Donald Trump has claimed that both Iran and Israel have agreed to a complete ceasefire.

While Israel had yet to make an official statement not made an official statement, Araghchi, in a post on X, emphasized that Iran initiated no conflict but was responding to Israeli attacks. He clarified that there was no ceasefire agreement in place.

He wrote: “As Iran has repeatedly made clear: Israel launched war on Iran, not the other way around.

“As of now, there is NO “agreement” on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations. However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards.

“The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later.”

Araghchi’s statement comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and Israel, with recent airstrikes and exchanges of fire escalating the situation.

The Iranian foreign minister has also thanked the country’s armed forces for their readiness to defend the nation.