A top Russian marine commander, who was recently promoted by President Vladimir V. Putin, has been killed in the Kursk region near the Ukrainian border, Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The officer, Maj. Gen. Mikhail Gudkov, was the deputy chief of the Russian Navy, in charge of coastal and ground forces. Before he was promoted earlier this year, he had commanded the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade of the Pacific Fleet, a group of marines who were heavily involved in the early weeks of the invasion of Ukraine and, more recently, in the battle for control of the Kursk region in Russia.
Ukrainian officials, who have previously claimed responsibility for several targeted assassinations of Russian commanders, did not immediately comment on reports of the general’s death. Ukraine has accused the 155th brigade of killing civilians in Kyiv’s suburbs in the early weeks of the war and of executing prisoners of war.
The Russian defense ministry gave few details, saying only that General Gudkov had been killed on Wednesday “during combat operations” in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine. An obituary published on social media by a marines veterans association said four missiles had struck the brigade’s command center in the village of Korenevo, about 17 miles from the border, killing General Gudkov and nine other people, “many of them senior officers.”
Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of the Primorsky region in Russia’s Far East, where General Gudkov formerly serve, also confirmed his death in a social media post, calling him a “strong-willed” general who “died in the line of duty together with his troops.” The Russian defense ministry did not report the deaths of others from the 155th brigade.
The killing of the general comes as Moscow’s forces have made advances in eastern Ukraine and the Trump administration has paused the delivery of some air defense interceptors and other weapons to Ukraine, putting a strain on the Ukrainian army.
Mr. Gudkov is the highest-ranking Russian officer to have been killed in an apparent Ukrainian attack since the death of Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik of the Russian General Staff in a car explosion in April in Moscow.
In late March, Mr. Putin praised General Gudkov when he promoted him to deputy chief of the Russian Navy during a presidential visit to a nuclear-powered submarine, saying his “experience should be replicated across other units.”
In October 2023, Mr. Putin awarded General Gudkov the Hero of the Russian Federation Medal, a gold star that is one of the country’s top military honors, citing his courage, heroism and skillful command as the leader of the 155th brigade.
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