A sacked Russian official who was found dead with a gunshot wound in a park outside Moscow was implicated in an official investigation into the embezzlement of funds for strengthening the border with Ukraine,

Russian lawmakers approved a new transport minister, one day after the body of his predecessor was found with a gunshot wound hours after being sacked 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.