The apparent suicide of Russia’s transportation minister brought expressions of shock and sorrow from the Kremlin but no new clues as to why Roman Starovoit might have taken his own life amid media speculation he potentially was facing corruption charges.

Russia’s transport minister allegedly shot himself in the head on Monday just hours after President Vladimir Putin dismissed him from his post, investigators said.

A sacked Russian official who was found dead with a gunshot wound in a park outside Moscow was implicated in an official investigation into the embezzlement of funds for strengthening the border with Ukraine,

Russia’s top criminal investigation agency is probing the death of Roman Starovoit, a former transport minister whose body was found with a gunshot wound near his car, hours after President Vladimir Putin dismissed him from his post.

Russian lawmakers approved a new transport minister, one day after the body of his predecessor was found with a gunshot wound hours after being sacked by President Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it was shocked by the sudden death of Russia's former transport minister Roman Starovoit, news of which broke hours after President Vladimir Putin had sacked him.