Deputy head of Russian navy killed by Ukraine in Kursk, Moscow says
The 42-year-old Gudkov, who was appointed to the position by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, died 'during combat operations' in the border region on Wednesday, the state RIA news agency quoted the ministry as saying on Thursday.
Unofficial Russian and Ukrainian military Telegram channels suggested Gudkov and other Russian officers died as a result of a Ukrainian missile attack on a command post in Kursk.
Kyiv's troops seized parts of the Russian region in a surprise offensive in August 2024. Although Moscow claimed in April to have fully recovered it, clashes in the area have continued.
Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of the eastern Russian region of Primorye, where the country's Pacific Fleet is based, said Gudkov was killed while 'carrying out his duty as an officer'.
The regional governor added that the naval commander had, until earlier this year, led the fleet's 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade.
'When he became deputy chief of the navy, he did not stop personally visiting the positions of our marines,' Kozhemyako said on Telegram.
The confirmation of Gudkov's death came as Moscow said on Thursday that it had captured the villages of Razine and Milove in eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian army, which has not commented on the claim, said earlier in the day that it was 'steadfastly holding back' Russian attempts to gain ground in the area.
In other developments, a Russian air strike on port infrastructure in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa killed two people, authorities said on Thursday.
The attack involved a ballistic missile fitted with cluster munitions, according to the regional governor, Oleh Kiper.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Denmark on Thursday as Copenhagen assumed its six-month presidency of the European Union.
His Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen, promised to help Kyiv join the bloc, saying her country would 'do everything … to help Ukraine on its path towards EU membership'.
Zelenskyy announced on Thursday that his country had signed an agreement with United States company Swift Beat to manufacture hundreds of thousands of drones this year.
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