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Mikhail Gudkov, who served as deputy commander of the Russian Navy, was killed during “combat operations” in the Kursk region, officials said.
Russian Deputy Navy Chief Mikhail Gudkov. (Credit: X)
Mikhail Gudkov, who served as deputy commander of the Russian Navy, was killed during “combat operations” in the Kursk region, according to officials on Thursday, as Russian and Ukrainian forces fought in the area.
Gudkov, 42, had served in the military since 2000 and was made “Hero of the Russian Federation” by President Vladimir Putin in 2023 – the Kremlin’s highest honour. He also led a brigade fighting against Ukraine in the current war.
“During combat operations in one of the border areas of the Kursk region on July 2, 2025… Major General Mikhail Evgenievich Gudkov was killed,” Russia’s state RIA news agency quoted the defence ministry as saying. He is one of the most senior Russian military officers to have been killed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Oleg Kozhemyako, head of the Primorye region in Russia’s Far East, said Gudkov “was killed carrying out his duty as an officer”. He said Gudkov was a former commander of the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade of Russia’s Pacific Fleet and a “strong-spirited fighter”.
Notably, Ukrainian forces had captured large parts of Kursk in a surprise offensive last year. Although Russia claimed it had fully recaptured the territory, clashes in the border region have continued till date.
On the war front, the Russian military said Thursday it had captured the village of Milove in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, opening a new front on their shared border. Ukraine did not immediately respond to Russia’s claim.
Milove lies on a section of the border that Moscow’s forces had not penetrated since their offensive began in 2022, and was home to several hundred people before the conflict.
Moscow has been grinding forward on the front line for over a year, pressing its advantage against overstretched and outmanned Ukrainian troops. Russian attacks on the eastern Ukrainian city of Poltava killed two people, wounded nearly a dozen and also struck a military recruitment centre, officials said on Thursday.
(with AFP inputs)
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international…Read More
Aveek Banerjee is a Senior Sub Editor at News18. Based in Noida with a Master’s in Global Studies, Aveek has more than three years of experience in digital media and news curation, specialising in international… Read More
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