Major General Mikhail Gudkov, deputy commander of Russia’s Navy, has been killed in a Ukrainian attack in the Kursk region, Russian officials confirmed on Thursday.
The death was first announced by Primorye Governor Oleg Kozhemyako via Telegram, where he extended condolences to Gudkov’s family and the relatives of other servicemen killed in the incident. Specific details about the circumstances were not provided in the official statement.
However, unconfirmed reports from Russian media suggest that Gudkov and 10 other senior military officers were killed when a Ukrainian missile struck their command post near the town of Korenevo, located roughly 30 kilometers from the Ukrainian border in Sumy region.
Russia’s state military broadcaster Zvezda later reported, citing the Ministry of Defense, that Gudkov had died on Wednesday while performing “combat duty in one of the border areas of the Kursk region.”
Gudkov, a decorated officer, previously led the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, based in the Far East’s Primorye region. He was promoted to deputy Navy chief in March 2024—a promotion that was personally relayed by President Vladimir Putin during a televised meeting with naval officers aboard a nuclear submarine.
President Putin has frequently praised Gudkov’s former brigade, particularly for its role in repelling a reported Ukrainian cross-border incursion into Kursk in August 2023. The brigade was also commended during Putin’s annual press conference in December.
Gudkov’s death marks one of the highest-ranking Russian military casualties in recent months and highlights the continued vulnerability of command posts near contested border zones.
