Major General Mikhail Gudkov, deputy chief of the Russian Navy, has been killed along with 10 other soldiers in a Ukrainian attack on a command post in the Korenevo area of Russia’s Kursk region, near the Ukrainian border. Governor Oleg Kozhemyako confirmed the death on Thursday, expressing condolences to the victims’ families.
Gudkov, appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the Navy by President Vladimir Putin last March, had previously led a marine brigade from Russia’s Pacific Fleet fighting in Kursk. He is among the most senior Russian military officials killed since the war began in 2022. The Kursk region, partially occupied by Ukrainian forces in a surprise offensive in August 2024 before Russia reclaimed it, remains a conflict hotspot.
