Russian deputy navy chief killed in Kursk region, says Moscow

Major General Mikhail Gudkov, deputy head of the Russian Navy and a former commander of a marine brigade fighting against Ukraine, has been killed in action, depriving Moscow of one of its most senior officers, the Russian military said on Thursday (July 3, 2025).

Major General Gudkov (42), who was handed a top military honour in the Kremlin by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February, was killed on Wednesday (July 2, 2025) “during combat work in one of the border districts of the Kursk region,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Unofficial Russian and Ukrainian military Telegram channels had earlier reported that Mr. Gudkov had been killed, along with other servicemen and officers, in a Ukrainian missile attack on a command post in Russia’s Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, with a U.S.-made HIMARS missile.

Reuters could not independently verify how Mr. Gudkov lost his life.

In charge of the navy’s coastal and land forces, including marine units, he is one of the most senior Russian military officers to have been killed since Moscow launched its full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022.

At least 10 other senior Russian commanders have been killed in action or assassinated by Kyiv since the start of the war.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which accused Mr. Gudkov and his subordinates of committing various war crimes, something Moscow denied.

In the far eastern port city of Vladivostok, the home base of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, mourners left flowers near an outdoor portrait of Mr. Gudkov, part of a photo exhibition celebrating officers Russia regards as military heroes.

A photograph of Major General Mikhail Gudkov, who was recently killed in the Kursk region amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an exhibition of distinguished Russian soldiers’ portraits in the far eastern city of Vladivostok, Russia, July 3, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters

Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Primorsky region which includes the port, said in a statement that Mr. Gudkov, whom Putin appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the navy in March, had been killed “carrying out his duty as an officer” along with others and expressed his condolences to the dead men’s relatives.

Attached to his statement was a video showing him awarding Mr. Gudkov a military honour and images of Gudkov — set to a patriotic Russian song — on the battlefield.

“When he became deputy chief of the navy, he did not stop personally visiting the positions of our marines,” Mr. Kozhemyako said on Telegram.

Before his promotion to the navy’s top brass, Gudkov had led a marine brigade of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, which had fought in Ukraine and had fought in Kursk too. Parts of Kursk were seized by Ukrainian forces in a surprise offensive in August 2024 before Russia said earlier this year it had driven them out.