The death of Russia's Transport Minister, Roman Starovoyt, came as a shock to the Russian elite. According to investigators, the 53-year-old's body was found at the wheel of his Tesla Model X in a park not far from Moscow's luxurious residential area of Rublevka.
A few hours ago, it was announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had fired Starovoy - without giving any explanation. Russia's rich and powerful were reminded on their doorstep how precarious their situation really is, writes A2.
In Starovoy's home region of Kursk, which he governed as governor until May 2024, corruption investigations are underway in connection with the construction of fortifications along the Ukrainian border. According to Russian media reports, Starovoy's suicide may have preceded an arrest by the Investigative Committee.
The Starovoyt case shows the extent of the pressure on Russia's elites in the third year of the war. What senior civil servants could once rely on no longer applies. Vladimir Putin's top officials live in constant uncertainty, analysts point out to German media. The fact that they belong to the country's administrative elite has now become a "dead end trap," says expert Alexandra Prokopenko of the American Carnegie organization in an analysis.
Previously, under Vladimir Putin's system, those who were loyal and maintained good relations with the clans surrounding the ruler enjoyed "de facto" immunity from prosecution. The system only sent traitors to prison - or to the afterlife.
Dismissed ministers and senior officials were moved to other positions without significant demotion, despite investigations into corruption or misconduct. The best example is Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who was dismissed in 2012 after a corruption scandal in his department. Today, he is a member of the supervisory board of the state aviation group OAK, which unites all of Russia’s civil and military aircraft manufacturers under one roof.
While Russia's top politicians wonder whether their patrons can protect them from the FSB and the Investigative Committee in case of suspicion, there is an elite faction that may be secure in its position for now, but they too believe the end is near. (A2 Televizion)
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