Russia’s deputy navy commander, Major General Mikhail Gudkov, has been killed in a Ukrainian attack in the border region of Kursk, Russian officials confirmed on Thursday.
Primorye region Governor Oleg Kozhemyako first announced Gudkov’s death in a Telegram post, offering condolences to the general’s family and to relatives of “other soldiers who died in the Kursk region.” He did not provide further details about the circumstances of their deaths, reports Moscow Times.
Unconfirmed reports in Russian media suggested Gudkov and 10 other senior officers were killed when a Ukrainian missile struck their command post near Korenevo, about 30 kilometres from the Ukrainian border in Sumy.
Later, Russia’s military broadcaster Zvezda, citing the Defense Ministry, said Gudkov died on Wednesday “during combat duty in one of the border areas of the Kursk region.”
Gudkov had previously commanded the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade of the Pacific Fleet, based in Russia’s Far East Primorye region, before being promoted to deputy navy chief in March.
President Vladimir Putin personally informed Gudkov of the promotion during a televised meeting with the crew of a nuclear submarine.
Putin has repeatedly praised the 155th brigade, including at his year-end press conference last December, and credited the unit with repelling a Ukrainian cross-border incursion into the Kursk region in August.