Major General Mikhail Gudkov, the deputy head of the Russian Navy who also led a brigade fighting against Ukraine, has been killed in Russia's Kursk region, Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of a far eastern Russian region, said on Thursday (July 3).

Unofficial Russian and Ukrainian military Telegram channels had earlier reported that Gudkov had been killed along with 10 other servicemen in a Ukrainian attack on a command post in Korenevo in the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine.

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.

Kozhemyako, who said he had spoken to Gudkov a lot over the years, said in a statement that Gudkov had been killed "carrying out his duty as an officer" along with others, and expressed his condolences to the dead men's relatives.

"When he became Deputy Chief of the Navy, he did not stop personally visiting the positions of our marines," Kozhemyako said on Telegram.

Gudkov had received awards for bravery in military action against Ukraine and been accused by Kyiv of war crimes. Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed him deputy commander-in-chief of the Navy in March, according to a statement on the Kremlin's website.

There was no immediate comment from the Russian Defence Ministry or from Ukraine.

Gudkov had led a Marine Brigade of Russia's Pacific Fleet, which had been fighting in Kursk. Parts of Kursk were seized by Ukrainian forces in a surprise offensive in August 2024 before Russia said earlier this year it had driven them out.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION (FILE - RELEASED OCTOBER 25, 2023) (RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY - Do not obscure logo)

1. THEN RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER SERGEI SHOIGU PRESENTING MEDALS TO RUSSIAN MARINES

2. SHOIGU PRESENTING AWARD TO COMMANDER OF 155TH MARINE BRIGADE MIKHAIL GUDKOV (SEEN FROM BACK)

3. SHOIGU PRESENTING PERSONAL HANDGUN TO GUDKOV

4. VARIOUS OF HANDGUN WITH ENGRAVING READING IN RUSSIAN: "TO COLONEL GUDKOV MIKHAIL YEVGENIEVICH FROM MINISTER OF DEFENCE OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION ARMY GENERAL S.K.SHOIGU, 2023"

5. SHOIGU SPEAKING / GUDKOV (SECOND FROM LEFT) LISTENING

6. GUDKOV (LEFT) LISTENING

7. SHOIGU SPEAKING

UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION (FILE - RELEASED OCTOBER 25, 2023) (RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY - Do not obscure logo)

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) COMMANDER OF 155TH MARINE BRIGADE OF PACIFIC FLEET, LATER DEPUTY COMMANDER OF RUSSIAN NAVY, MIKHAIL GUDKOV, SAYING:

"We have also faced the foreign mercenaries (during fighting in Ukraine), the mercenaries from the USA, Croatia and Italy."

9. WHITE FLASH

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) COMMANDER OF 155TH MARINE BRIGADE OF PACIFIC FLEET, LATER DEPUTY COMMANDER OF RUSSIAN NAVY, MIKHAIL GUDKOV, SAYING:

"We have all the means (to confront enemy's hardware). The Western hardware will not provide them with any sort of panacea. It burns exactly so as the materiel of Ukrainian manufacture which they deployed earlier."

UNIDENTIFIED LOCATIONS (FILE - RELEASED NOVEMBER 27, 2023) (RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY - Mandatory credit "Russian Defence ministry")

9. PROMO REEL SHOWING RUSSIAN MARINES IN DRILL OF LANDING ON BEACH

10. AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIP AND LANDING CRAFT HEADING TO BEACH

11. ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIER HITTING GROUND FROM SEA

12. VARIOUS OF TANKS IN DRILLS

13. VARIOUS OF FOOT SOLDIERS MOVING THROUGH FOREST

14. ASSAULT RIFLE FIRING

15. VARIOUS OF TANK FIRING

16. DRONE FOOTAGE OF TARGET BEING HIT

17. SOLDIER THROWING HADN GRENADE INTO HOUSE

18. SOLDIERS ENTERING HOUSE AS THEY FIRE THEIR RIFLES

19. VARIOUS OF ANTI-TANK WEAPON FIRING

20. NIGHT VISION INSTRUMENT VIEW OF TARGET BEING HIT

21. SOLDIERS IN LINE WITH MEDALS AND "Z" LETTERS ON THEIR CHEST