Major General Mikhail Gudkov. Photo: Russian Defence Ministry

A high-ranking Russian Navy general has been killed in action near the Ukrainian border in Russia’s southwestern Kursk region, according to several official sources, including Primorsky region Governor Oleg Kozhemyako and the Russian Defence Ministry.

According to Kozhemyako, Major General Mikhail Gudkov, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, died “performing the duty of an officer together with his fellow soldiers” on Wednesday while visiting Russian marines under his command.

The acting governor of the Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, confirmed Gudkov’s death, describing it as a tragic loss “in the line of military duty”, while thanking Gudkov for his role in orchestrating the region’s recapture from Ukrainian control in March.

According to several independent Telegram channels, Gudkov was killed by a Ukrainian missile strike targeting the command post of the 155th Marine Brigade, his old unit, in Korenevo, a village approximately 30 kilometres from the border of Ukraine.

Local Telegram channel Pepel Kursk reported that 12 soldiers, including Gudkov, were killed in the attack, which targeted a private residence where the brigade’s command post had been set up.

Gudkov was appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy in March. Before that, he was commander of the 155th Marine Brigade, a unit of Russia’s Pacific Fleet known for sustaining some of the heaviest casualties of the entire war with Ukraine while fighting around Kyiv and Mariupol.

Ukrainian military intelligence says the brigade was previously involved in the killings of civilians in Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel in the Kyiv region, and in the executions of prisoners of war. In August 2024, the military brigade published a video that featured the head of a Ukrainian soldier impaled on a stake.

According to calculations by independent news outlet Mediazona, Gudkov’s death means that 12 Russian generals have now been killed by Ukraine since February 2022.