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

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.

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.