New Delhi, Jul 3: Russia has confirmed the death of Major General Mikhail Gudkov, deputy head of the Russian Navy, near the Ukrainian border in the western Kursk region.
The Russian defence ministry said Gudkov was killed during “combat work,” but provided no further details, BBC reported.
His death marks one of the highest-profile military losses for Moscow since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Gudkov, appointed to the senior naval post by President Vladimir Putin in March this year, was reportedly killed alongside ten others, according to Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of Russia’s Primorsky region. In a Telegram post, Kozhemyako described Gudkov as a dedicated officer who died “carrying out his duty.”
The BBC, citing unconfirmed reports from Russian and Ukrainian military-linked Telegram channels, said the deaths may have resulted from a Ukrainian missile strike on a Russian command post near the town of Korenevo, roughly 30 km from the Ukrainian border.
