Russian general killed in Ukrainian Himars strike
Mikhail Yevgenyevich Gudkov, deputy commander of the Russian navy, was killed on Wednesday, according to Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of Primorsky Krai, a region in Russia's far east.
Russian Telegram channels reported he was killed in a precision strike using US-made Himars weapons in Korenovo, Kursk.
Ukrainian forces had targeted a Russian command centre, killing Gudkov, his deputy, and at least 20 others – most of them senior officers.
He is one of the most senior Russian military officers to have been killed by Ukraine since Moscow launched its full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022.
Gudkov's old unit, the 155th Separate Guards Naval Infantry Brigade, has been rebuilt at least eight times throughout the war after being decimated by Ukrainian forces, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
It suffered a heavy defeat near Moschun, north-west of Kyiv, shortly after Vladimir Putin launched his invasion in early 2022.
The brigade allegedly took part in the initial occupation of the Kyiv region, including Bucha, where war crimes were carried out against the civilian population, including rape, torture and summary executions.
After further heavy losses and failed assaults in Pavlivka in Donetsk and Kharkiv, the 155th was transferred to Kursk, which had come under attack from Ukraine in 2024, with Kyiv's forces seizing a large swathe of Russian territory.
Photos of memorial flowers appeared alongside Gudkov's portrait in the main square of Vladivostok, where he was officially recognised as a 'hero of Russia'.
Gudkov's death came as both sides continued to trade strikes along the front line and beyond.
He is the latest Russian general to have been killed in Russia's war on Ukraine. Moscow has confirmed the deaths of 11 generals, while Ukraine has claimed to have killed seven more, which Russia has neither confirmed nor denied.
Two killed in Ukraine military centre
A Russian attack on the city of Poltava in central Ukraine killed two people and damaged a military recruitment centre, the Ukrainian military and regional officials said on Thursday.
Volodymyr Kohut, the regional governor, said 11 people were also wounded, while the military reported fires in the military recruitment building and in a nearby residential building.
Photos from the scene posted by emergency services showed firefighters battling blazes as well as damaged buildings and cars.
Meanwhile, a woman in her 70s was killed, and two other people injured, by falling debris from a destroyed Ukrainian drone in Russia's south-western region of Lipetsk, the regional governor said.
The debris fell on a residential building in the district surrounding the regional capital, killing the woman and injuring two more, authorities said.
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