The deputy commander of Russia’s navy has been killed in a Ukrainian missile strike — one of the most senior Russian military officers wiped out in more than three years of war, officials said Thursday.
Major General Mikhail Gudkov, who also led a brigade fighting against Ukraine, died in Russia’s Kursk region, the region’s governor Oleg Kozhemyako confirmed.
Ten other Russian servicemen were also killed in the attack on a command post in Korenevo, according to Russian and Ukrainian military Telegram channels.
Gudkov is one of the Kremlin’s most senior military officers to have been killed since President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin had only just appointed him deputy commander of the Russian navy in March.
“When he became deputy chief of the navy, he did not stop personally visiting the positions of our marines,” Kozhemyako said in a statement.
He added that Gudkov was killed “carrying out his duty as an officer.”
At the time of his death, he’d been leading a marine brigade of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, which had been fighting in the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine.
Gudkov has previously been given honors for bravery in the war in Ukraine and been accused by Kyiv of war crimes.
With Post wires
