MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
A high-ranking government minister has died just hours after the president relieved him of his post. That sounds like something out of a spy thriller. It is a real headline from modern-day Russia, which is where we find NPR's Charles Maynes. He's on the line from Moscow. Hey, Charles.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Hi there.
KELLY: Hi. So who is - who was - this minister, and what do we know about his death?
MAYNES: Well, this story involves a Russian official named Roman Starovoit, who was the Kremlin's transportation minister for the better part of the past year, at least until Monday. That's when President Vladimir Putin relieved him of his duties and appointed a replacement. And so if you're thinking, OK, a government reshuffle - no big deal, fine...
KELLY: Yeah.
MAYNES: ...That's true until we heard this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED NEWSCASTER: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: So hours later, state TV announced the now ex-Minister Starovoit was dead. Russia's Investigative Committee, that's Russia's version of the FBI, immediately said their assumption was that Starovoit killed himself. Although, exactly when is one question among many. All we know is his body was discovered not far from his car in a park outside Moscow on Monday with a pistol nearby.
KELLY: So given those circumstances and the timing, that we learned of his death just hours after he was fired, what is the Kremlin saying?
MAYNES: Well, we haven't heard from President Putin. Although, his spokesman today said Putin was immediately informed of these tragic events. The spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, also called for patience pending the investigation, but added this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DMITRY PESKOV: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: So here Peskov says such moments cannot but shock most people, and, of course, it shocked them.
KELLY: OK, so the official Kremlin line is that they are shocked, this is tragic, that we have to wait for the investigation and what it finds. There must be all kinds of theories circulating, though.
MAYNES: Well, it is Russia. Yes, there are, most of them focusing on Starovoit's previous job as governor of the Kursk region and during one particular moment in August of last year. That's when Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into Kursk - widely seen as an embarrassment to the Kremlin.
KELLY: An embarrassment, but it's over, right? Russia recently ended that incursion with North Korean troops helping them out.
MAYNES: That's right. That's right, exactly. But as Russia has regained control of this area and Kursk, you know, questions have really resurfaced over how this collapse in Russia's defenses actually happened. Recent months, we've seen arrests of local officials, including Starovoit's former deputy over an alleged misuse of funds aimed at fortifying the border. Now, there were no public charges we know of against Starovoit, but there seems to be this consensus they were coming. So the theory here is that Starovoit took his own life rather than face potentially years in a harsh Russian prison.
KELLY: It sounds plausible, sounds tidy. Although, I'm thinking he could have opted, if he were going to face charges, to at least try to fight them. At least he would face a trial.
MAYNES: Well, he could have, and there are certainly conspiracy theorists here who argue Starovoit would have used a trial to disclose information about important people. He's certainly the latest in a series of strange, supposed suicides among the Russian elite in the past few years - for example, several falling from windows. But whatever happened in the case of Starovoit, what's clear is it's had a chilling effect. You know, public officials have been largely silent about his death. In fact, one popular social media channel, which operates itself anonymously, said it was reminiscent of Soviet times when officials could suddenly disappear from public view. As the channel put it, it's already like Starovoit never existed at all.
KELLY: Thank you, Charles.
MAYNES: Thank you.
KELLY: That's NPR's Charles Maynes in Moscow. And if you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline - you dial 988 - or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME, H-O-M-E, to 741741.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.