THE death of Vladimir Putin’s transport minister has raised a series of awkward questions for the dictator.

Roman Starovoit, 53, was sacked by Vlad on Monday after he couldn’t stop Ukraine causing mayhem to Russia’s aviation industry.

But he was dead just hours later – with the circumstances unclear and conflicting details emerging about what happened.

It’s just the latest mystery death among Russia’s elite, including many who have plunged from windows.

Was the body moved?

Versions of Starovoit’s death from official sources were constantly changing, with initial reports saying his body had been found at home.

Russian cops then said Starovoit’s body was found having shot himself inside his black Tesla.

But press reports and photos clearly showed a body being removed from long grass near the electric car.

The motor was found in a carpark in Malevich Park in Moscow – not far from the minister’s home.

Reports in the Russian press quickly emerged saying the weapon he used was presented with a pistol by the Russian Interior Ministry in 2023.

The minister’s tearful girlfriend and assistant Polina Korneeva, 25, was brought to the scene by law enforcement to identify the corpse.

She bawled her eyes out as Starovoit was removed and taken to a waiting van and DNA samples could be seen being taken.

But officials did not correct the official record of where he was found.

Intriguingly, CCTV cameras reportedly do not show him approaching the scene at Malevich Park where he died.

Did it happen hours after he was sacked?

Starovoit’s time of death is also mysterious.

On Monday morning, he went into the office and held his normal meetings.

Then, after being fired just after 9am, he reportedly ordered his staff to ready his official motor to leave the ministry.

He then disappeared at 9.30am and was not found dead for several hours creating a gap of unaccounted time.

Despite being certain about the cause of his death, Russian cops haven’t been so willing to give a confirmed time.

Some Russian officials in the investigation even told local media that Starovoit died between Saturday and Sunday. 

Around 15 minutes after the first report the head of the Russian parliament’s defence committee Col-Gen Andrei Kartapolov confirmed the death said he had died “quite a long time ago”.

But footage shows him at the ministry on Sunday in the crisis room, taking charge of the government’s response to the air traffic chaos engulfing Russia from Ukrainian drones.

How did cops know it was suicide so quickly?

Despite all these inconsistencies, authorities pinned the death on suicide in their first statement.

Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman of the Investigative Committee of Russia, said: “Today in the Odintsovo urban district, the body of the former Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, Roman Starovoit, was found in a personal car with a gunshot wound.

“Investigative bodies of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Moscow Region are working on the scene, establishing the circumstances of the incident.

“The main version is suicide.”

Yet, Sergei Markov, director of Russia’s Institute of Political Studies, sensationally went on the record to suggest Starovoit had been murdered. 

He said: “The Russian elite was shocked by the suicide of Roman Starovoit, the former Minister of Transport, just a few hours after Putin removed him.

“But it seems to me that those who eliminated him – that is, those against whom he could have testified after his arrest – are trying to hide his real murder by using the suicide version.”

Was it tied to a mysterious corruption scandal?

Starovoit was sacked amid unconfirmed rumours he was implicated in a major corruption scandal.

Putin gave no reason for his dismissal, later denying he had lost trust in him. 

One Telegram channel alleged he died shortly before he was due to  give statements in criminal cases in which he was a “key figure”.

He had been implicated in the alleged abuse of state funds earmarked for wartime border protection in Kursk region, where he was previously governor. 

Officials caught in corruption scandals often go to prison

Was Vlad involved?

Windows have become one of the most deadly places in Russia for the elites under Putin.

A series of suspicious deaths hitting billionaires since 2022 has seen a number of them die in mystery circumstances.

Many have been found on the street with their death ruled as having happened when they “fell out a window”.

But others have also died from shooting themselves in the chest five times, burning alive after falling asleep with a lit cigarette, and hacked to death with an axe.

Many of these mystery deaths have been explained as suicides despite those dying being from the elite of Russian society.

Putin was “shocked” over the sudden death of Starovoit.

But the Kremlin refused to be drawn on how Roman Starovoit had died, saying it must be left for the investigation.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “This cannot but shock normal people.

“Naturally, it shocked us too.”

Photos have emerged on Tuesday of Polina in a white dress, raising questions over whether the pair were set to be married.

Putin has pushed Russia in a far harder conservative direction and attacked gay rights and implemented tougher hurdles for divorce.

Reports said the last time Starovoit communicated with his family was two days ago.

Starovoit had divorced his wife in 2021, the mother of his two children, and started a relationship with Korneeva.

The dead ex-minister had a daughter 15, and son, 18.