Putin sacks transport minister

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sacked his transport minister, Roman Starovoit.

The decree published in Moscow on Monday does not give any reasons why the former governor of the western Russian region of Kursk, who was appointed as transport minister in May last year, is leaving his post.

Starovoit's deputy, Andrey Nikitin, has been appointed acting transport minister.

Starovoit's successor as governor of the Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, has been detained for alleged fraud.

Kursk is where Ukrainian troops captured dozens of villages in August last year, in a temporary but embarrassing blow for the Russian army.

Smirnov became governor of Kursk in May 2024 but was forced to resign in December after Ukrainian troops invaded.

The case against Smirnov centres on the fact that funds for the construction of fortifications on the border with Ukraine were allegedly not spent appropriately.

These fortifications were built from 2022, shortly after Putin ordered Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

As governor, Starovoit had said these facilities were completed. No investigations against Starovoit are known to date.

Russian commentators also cited the chaos at Russian airports as a possible reason for his dismissal. Hundreds of flights have been cancelled in the middle of the holiday season due to frequent Ukrainian drone attacks.