'Strong-spirited fighter': Ukrainian strikes in Kursk kills Russia's top-ranking official

Ukrainian strikes in Russia’s Kursk region killed the deputy chief of the Russian Navy, Mikhail Gudkov, authorities in the Primorsky region in Russia’s far east have confirmed. This is one of the high-profile deaths in Russia’s leadership as a result of Ukrainian strikes since the start of the war.

Gudkov, 42, was the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy who led a brigade that fought in Ukraine. He was killed in the Russian border region on Thursday.

“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.

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Oleg Kozhemyako, head of the Primorye region in Russia’s Far East, said Gudkov “was killed carrying out his duty as an officer”.

Kozhemyako said he had spoken to Gudkov “a lot” over the years, praising him as a “strong-spirited fighter”.

He said Gudkov was a former commander of the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade of the Pacific Fleet based in the Russian Far East.

The governor said that, even after becoming deputy commander of the Russian navy, Gudkov “did not stop going out in person to the positions of our marines”.

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The deputy chief was appointed to the post in March last year by President Vladimir Putin, who said at the time, “Since the minister and the Chief of the General Staff believe that your experience needs to be replicated in other units, I have decided to transfer you to a position - to increase your level of responsibility.”

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military had accused Gudkov and other members of his former 155th brigade of committing war crimes in the country, including killing civilians in the towns of Bucha, Irpin and Gostomel.

Ukrainian forces captured large parts of Kursk in a surprise offensive last year – a response to Russia’s full-scale campaign against their country, which began in 2022.

Russia in April said it had fully recaptured the territory, but clashes in the border region have continued.

With inputs from agencies