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Roman Starovoyt, Russia’s minister
of transport, has taken his own life.
00:00:04
The wider public has found out about the tragedy
in a way that’s quite unremarkable for our epoch.
00:00:09
Vladimir Putin instantly decreed
the replacement of Roman Starovoyt
with Andrei Nikitin, the former Novgorod governor.
00:00:18
There may be some
onomastic confusion as there’s also Gleb Nikitin,
the current governor of Nizhny Novgorod. That’s not him.
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The su_cide of a Cabinet minister isn’t exactly
something you run into every day.
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Moreover, it’s the first time
we’ve seen it in Russia’s post-Soviet history.
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A top-tier official taking his own life with a gun
is something redolent of the Stalin era.
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It’s worth talking about the rapidly
deteriorating reality for those
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who helped build the Putin regime
and served it as best as they could.
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But before we roll, check out our YT fix options,
including a one-month free VPN trial in the description.
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!True Servant!
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Roman Starovoyt governed Russia’s
Kursk Region for five and a half years.
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For two and a half years, he oversaw the province,
a very prominent region, during the Ukraine war.
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Granted, the war has taken a toll
on most of the Russian governors.
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The mobilization drive and the funds
to bankroll the one-time payments
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and battlefield essentials for the recruits
as well as handling the killed soldiers’ families
all fell on the regional authorities.
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But the Kursk Region has been the most war-affected
province throughout the course of this war.
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Even before the Ukrainian invasion
of the region in the summer of 2024—
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when Starovoyt was no longer the governor—Kursk
occasionally experienced the incursions of the saboteur groups.
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The region has been subject to Ukrainian shelling.
They built multiple fortifications.
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Governor Starovoyt was among the most
warmongering Russian officials
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as he flashed military uniforms
and acted as a military leader.
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Unlike his Belgorod counterpart Vyacheslav Gladkov,
Starovoyt immediately pallied up with Wagner PMC.
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He bragged about the week-long training at Wagner camp.
During the mutiny, he publicly urged Prigozhin to reconsider.
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When the mutiny—and then
Yevgeny Prigozhin himself—went whoosh,
he didn’t delete his social media posts applauding Wagner.
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The PMC leader’s ambitions should never
“downplay the achievements of its rank-and-file combatants.”
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Roman Starovoyt was one of those officials
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who immediately aligned himself with the Z
crowd and was loud and proud about it.
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In our classifications of the Russian
officialdom, he was a proactive one.
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He thought he was lucky enough to get
a phenomenal boost and promotion.
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The embattled governor was relieved
of his duties in May 2024.
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He was replaced by his former first deputy Alexei Smirnov
who went on to post a true record.
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On Sept. 16, 2024, he was appointed governor.
As early as Dec. 5, he was fired.
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Four months later, he was put in custody.
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His career trajectory from an acting governor
to a prison inmate took 11 months.
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Smirnov was charged with embezzlement over
the fortifications on the Ukrainian border.
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The regional administration
was gloating over those,
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yet they didn’t prevent the Ukrainian army from occupying
a swath of the Kursk Region the size of Singapore.
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However, while Starovoyt’s former
first deputy was fired and then jailed,
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Starovoyt seemed to be faring exceptionally well.
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Starovoyt governed the region
that ranked 47th in gross regional product.
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Its budget equaled Moscow’s two-week spending figures.
The population was 1 million people.
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Yet Starovoyt was promoted to the transport minister’s
role in charge of a rather well-off federal agency.
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The transport ministry spans the Russian highway
service company, the Federal Air Transport Agency,
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the transport leasing company, the maritime,
and automobile transport agencies.
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It encompasses everything within
the range of bridges and airports.
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The ministry oversees everything that drives, flies,
and sails along with the rest of the transport infrastructure.
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No station or aircraft will be operable without the paperwork
approved by the transport ministry agencies.
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The transport ministry is in charge
of humongous construction contracts
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and audit functions in the critical industries
with a ton of commercial assets.
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The leasing company alone is worth a fortune.
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Long story short, the transport ministry isn’t tantamount
to being a presidential shipbuilding aide
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or sitting on the Security Council.
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Rather it’s about a ton of money
and ample opportunity to tap into it.
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This agency is steeped in the country’s
best money-making opportunities.
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A transfer from Kursk governor to transport minister
isn’t an honorary retirement but rather a huge promotion
connoting access to mind-boggling resources.
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Starovoyt’s former first
deputy-turned-governor was fired and charged,
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and the entire Kursk administration was busted.
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Meanwhile,
Starovoyt kept his transport ministry job.
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And no one challenged the quality of fortifications
built at Kursk under Starovoyt.
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Less than 14 months into his stint, and less
than three months after Smirnov’s arrest,
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Starovoyt took his own life.
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According to the Telegram channels
close to the LE agencies, he shot himself
after Smirnov had testified against him.
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He took himself using the award weapon,
anticipating the imminent arrest.
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The first question that springs to mind is about
the plight Russia’s top leadership feels itself in.
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We'll pick it up after a commercial.
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Let's keep rolling.
00:08:00
The first question that springs to mind is about
the plight Russia’s top leadership feels itself in.
00:08:05
More than three years into the war,
potential criminal charges
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lead them to taking their own life as opposed
to trying to flee the country or actually fleeing it.
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What kind of terror are they going through?
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Why are they terrified to the point
of having their own will paralyzed?
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Okay, the previous deputy governor
was put into custody over the transgressions
that must’ve involved you.
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If you’re sane enough to realize just that,
you should start considering various escape options.
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Moreover, fleeing the country
should’ve been your first though the moment
the former deputy governor was sacked.
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It didn’t take a rocket scientist to cotton on that
the dismissal of Smirnov would have ramifications for you.
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A commonsense plan
would be to flee as soon as possible.
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Go missing after a business trip
or a vacation in Dubai.
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No matter what it is, any reasonable human being would
seem to try to take flight given the su_cidal alternative.
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Unlike regular Russian people
that are powerless against the law enforcement,
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Cabinet ministers and billionaires
have nothing to whinge about.
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They partook in building the system.
They supported it all along.
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Roman Starovoyt was among
the most proactive Ukraine war figures.
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He followed the playbook and vigorously
tried to outperform everybody else.
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Was he corrupt? He sure was.
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There’s no point in serving the system being just on payroll.
But he did his job earnestly.
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But suddenly, it turns out that contributing
to a violence-based system
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and partaking in the warmongering initiative
doesn’t mean you’re all safe and secure.
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The all-devouring system may end up devouring you, too.
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Being part of this system looks
like a membership in a crime syndicate.
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The fire escape you’ve devised won’t matter.
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The good times where one could retire
to a happy life in Dubai or Europe are now history.
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And sanctions have nothing to do with it.
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One’s destination will be either
police custody or a cemetary.
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And going by this most recent outcome,
this idea is being broadcast to all
of the system members quite efficiently.
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Perhaps it’s the undiluted fear factor
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that’s contributing to the system’s
sustainability and resilience.
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This system is apparently hurting all of its members.
It offers them no future.
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It strips them of a potential life in advanced
democracies they’ve all hoped for.
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It deprives them of their access
to foreign bank accounts and property.
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It makes them do the thing they’re all-prepared
to do like sustaining the war effort.
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It looks like we can’t fully comprehend the terror
Russia’s top officials are having to navigate.
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Ekaterina Schulmann rightfully poses the question.
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Why are they fearing so much
that s_icide appears to be the safest option?
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What are they headed for during the interrogation
or their stint in custody or jail?
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What makes them so fearful
that they consider taking their own lives?
00:11:13
Is the surveillance so tight, they can’t escape?
00:11:17
!Stalinism 2.0, Sorta!
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In one of our recent episodes,
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we mentioned the Russian officials and propagandists
discussing the benefits of reviving Stalinism in Russia.
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Moreover, some people from our camp
are also talking about the 1937 Great Purge vibes.
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But there’s one thing to consider.
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There’s no way Russia’s going
to restore Stalinism in the form
of a totalitarian state capable of mass repression.
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There’s no government system
cut for the mass repression.
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On the other hand, the restoration of the Stalinist
practice of decimating the government’s own elite
is the kind of thing that we’re already seeing unfold.
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If the government scares
a Cabinet minister into choosing
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between turning himself in and taking
his own life instead of taking flight,
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it’s a pretty much Stalinesque governance mode.
00:12:13
On Jul. 2, Minister Starovoyt briefed Putin
on the development of the airport infrastructure.
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On Jul. 7, he was found dead.
Mind you, Putin offered no official condolences.
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There was no official press release
about the deceased minister.
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Instead, they just appointed Andrei Nikitin
to replace Roman Starovoyt as transport minister.
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One might be led to believe that Putin just
substituted one Cabinet minister with another one.
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It might look like Starovoyt isn’t dead.
He might’ve been transferred.
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Or he might’ve retired, worst-case scenario.
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It looks like the system doesn’t think
it’s anything out of the ordinary.
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The guy has just been erased.
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This was the case with Cabinet ministers under Stalin.
Their names would disappear from the media publications.
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Their faces would’ve been scrubbed from the photos.
00:13:00
It seems like the recent Cabinet minister
was never even born in the first place.
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It doesn’t even matter if the details
of the story are really accurate.
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Like, whether he really took
his own life or he was “helped.”
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What was the date of his alleged s_icide?
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MP Andrei Kartapolov may be right. Starovoyt
may have committed it on the night of Jul. 5
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while the federal agency continued posting
news stories featuring the already late minister.
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If it turns out that Putin fired the dead man or that
the minister was killed, it’ll certainly spice things up.
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But it won’t change the nature of it all.
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Does it really matter whether
the intelligence agencies whacked the minister
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or scaremongered him about his gloomy future
so as to make him seal his own fate?
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More importantly, the current system
has reached the stage where a Cabinet
minister can simply vanish into thin air.
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And it’s not even breaking news.
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When talking about political repression, first
and foremost, we mean crackdowns on civil society.
00:13:59
Opposing this regime looks
like a dangerous stance to adopt.
00:14:02
But time and again, it turns out that it’s less dangerous
than contributing to the regime and supporting it.
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An activist can choose to leave Russia.
If they’ve gotten screwed, they may get assistance.
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Some may set up a fundraiser or help them lawyer up.
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In the brightest-case scenarios,
they’ll arrange a prisoner swap with the U.S. and Europe.
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At least, somebody will publicly say
a couple of compliments about the guy.
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Many people are considering ways
to help and get them out.
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Everybody knows that once the grip eases up,
they'll all get out whether pardoned, amnestied, or whatever.
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But the ones who are contributing to this system
are forced to navigate abject terror on a daily basis.
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They’re scared to live.
They’re terrified to flee.
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Once they get busted, there’s no one
to offer a word of support for them.
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If you’re part of the system,
you can easily disappear without a trace.
00:15:04
Roman Starovoyt’s death has reminded us
once again of the good old adage.
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The dear officials should be aware of the fact
that democracy, the rule of law, an independent judiciary,
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and suchlike weren’t devised because someone
wanted to share their power with the public.
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This system was devised
to protect you in the event the boss
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who was contributing to your wealth
and impunity has suddenly lost his marbles.
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He may want to strip you of your privileges
so that you end up as disenfranchised
as everybody else in this system.
00:15:38
If you fall from grace, shooting yourself
in the head won’t be your only option.
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You may go to court, get your rights protected,
raise public awareness, and prevent the system
from crushing you to a pulp.
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True, a suite of rights and freedoms as well as
competition and independent judiciary and media
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won’t make for easy money grab opportunities.
00:16:02
You’ll have to live the life of a regular top official
as opposed to that of a Saudi prince.
00:16:08
But on the positive side, you won’t
have to choose between jail time and death.
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Whenever you’re making laws and building the governance
system, you’re doing it for your own sake.
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By legally protecting individual rights and property,
you’re protecting yourself.
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And you have to be able to foresee the scenario
where these rules will be turned against you.
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We all need to bear this in mind
when building a new Russia.
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There’s a simple rule.
Unless you can bust a person over a protest rally,
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interrogate them over a social media post, or trump up
charges against the journalist you don’t like,
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you won’t need to take your own life
when faced with criminal charges.
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Starovoyt’s colleagues need to stop
binge-drinking to quell their fears.
00:16:54
They need to jump
at the earliest opportunity to flee.
00:16:56
Thinking that they won’t bust you is now
tantamount to life-threatening gullibility.
00:17:02
They will.
See you tomorrow!
