Russia's former transport minister was found dead in his car outside Moscow with a gunshot wound, hours after President Vladimir Putin fired him.

Russia's Investigative Committee, the top criminal investigation agency, said Mr Starovoit's body was discovered in his vehicle parked in Odintsovo, a neighbourhood west of Moscow where members of the country's elite live.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian’s transport minister was found dead from a gunshot wound in an apparent suicide, investigators said Monday — news that broke hours after the Kremlin announced he had been dismissed by President Vladimir Putin.