Top Russian naval commander killed in Kursk by Ukraine strike
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Deputy head of Russian navy killed by Ukraine in Kursk, Moscow says
Mikhail Gudkov, 42, is one of the most senior Russian commanders to have died in the war. He was appointed to the position by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March. Unofficial Russian and Ukrainian military Telegram channels suggested he and other Russian officers died as a result of a Ukrainian missile attack on a command post in Kursk. Moscow said on Thursday that it had captured the villages of Razine and Milove in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Denmark on Thursday as Copenhagen assumed its six-month presidency of the European Union.
The deputy head of the Russian navy, Mikhail Gudkov, has been killed in Russia’s Kursk region, the country’s Ministry of Defence has confirmed. He is one of the most senior Russian commanders to have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.
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.
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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.
Russian Navy Deputy Chief Mikhail Gudkov Killed in Ukrainian Strike in Kursk
Major General Mikhail Gudkov, deputy head of the Russian Navy, was killed in a Ukrainian missile strike in Russia’s Kursk region on July 2, 2025. The attack, reported by Russian authorities, targeted a command and control centre. The strike’s specifics remain unverified by Reuters, with Ukraine offering no immediate comment. The 42-year-old was appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the Navy in March 2025 by President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed Gudkov, 42, died during “combat work” in Kursk’s Korenevo district, near Ukraine’s border, on July 2, 2025. Unofficial Telegram channels reported a U.S.-made HIMARS missile struck a command post, killing Gudkov and up to 10 other servicemen. Primorsky Krai Governor Oleg Kozhemyako noted Gudkov’s death alongside others, stating he was “carrying out his duty as an officer.” The strike’s specifics remain unverified by Reuters, with Ukraine offering no immediate comment.
Russian navy leader Mikhail Gudkov confirmed killed in Ukraine missile strike https://t.co/ms9bgcZs3B pic.twitter.com/mCjDI6CN5n — New York Post (@nypost) July 3, 2025
Gudkov, appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy in March 2025 by President Vladimir Putin, previously led the 155th Separate Guards Marine Brigade, accused by Kyiv of war crimes, including prisoner executions. Despite his promotion, Gudkov frequently visited frontline positions, per Kozhemyako. Honored as a Hero of Russia in February 2025, his death is among the highest-ranking losses since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with at least 10 other senior commanders killed.
Kursk became a flashpoint after Ukraine’s August 2024 cross-border incursion, the first major foreign invasion of Russian territory since World War II. Ukraine’s offensive aimed to disrupt Russia’s plans in Sumy Oblast, claiming 25,625 Russian deaths and 971 captures by July 2025. Russia, bolstered by North Korean troops, retook most of Kursk in March 2025. The strike on Gudkov highlights Ukraine’s precision capabilities, possibly aided by intelligence leaks, per Russian Telegram reports.
Croatian court sentences gunman to 50 years for nursing home shooting that killed 6 people
Kresimir Pahoki, 52, found guilty on 13 counts, including murder and attempted murder. He walked into the nursing home in Daruvar, in central Croatia, on July 22. He then opened fire, killing five people on the spot, while one more died
ZAGREB, Croatia — A court in Croatia on Thursday convicted a gunman in a mass shooting at a nursing home nearly a year ago, and sentenced him to 50 years in prison for killing six people, including his own mother, and wounding several others.
Pahoki, who is a former fighter from an ethnic war in the 1990s in Croatia, walked into the nursing home in Daruvar, in central Croatia, on July 22, initially to pay for his mother’s bills. He then opened fire, killing five people on the spot, while one more person died later in a hospital.
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Deputy head of Russian Navy killed in Ukrainian attack on Kursk
Major General Mikhail Gudkov killed alongside 10 other servicemen in a Ukrainian attack on a command post. News of the death comes after Ukraine summoned the acting US envoy to Kyiv to warn the Trump administration that any ‘delay or procrastination’ will only benefit Russia. US has blocked a number of planned shipments to Ukraine that included Patriot air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery.
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The deputy head of the Russian Navy been killed in Russia’s Kursk region, a Russian official confirmed on Thursday.
Major General Mikhail Gudkov, who also led a brigade fighting against Ukraine, had been killed alongside 10 other servicemen in a Ukrainian attack on a command post, unofficial military Telegram channels reported earlier.
The news of the death comes after Ukraine summoned the acting US envoy to Kyiv to warn the Trump administration that any “delay or procrastination” in supplying the war-hit nation with weapons will only benefit Russia.
The US has blocked a number of planned shipments to Ukraine that included Patriot air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, warning that its own domestic stockpiles were running low but said that “robust” options for Kyiv were still lined up.
Ukraine has complained that this pause in military aid has allowed Russian forces to advance further inside Ukrainian territory.
Russian forces have penetrated up to 7km (4 miles) into the northern Sumy region from different directions along the border and the war’s largest battle is being waged in Donetsk as Russia inches toward its stated goal of capturing all of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Deputy Russian Navy chief killed in strike near Ukraine border
Gudkov’s death is one of the most high-profile losses for Moscow since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Unconfirmed reports suggest the deaths were the result of a Ukrainian missile strike on a Russian command post near the town of Korenevo. Ukraine has not officially commented on the attack – consistent with its usual policy of not confirming targeted strikes on Russian territory. Gudkov had previously commanded the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade of the Pacific Fleet, a unit involved in heavy fighting across eastern Ukraine.
According to Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Primorsky region in Russia’s Far East, ten others were also killed in the incident.
Kozhemyako made the announcement on Telegram, where he described Gudkov as a loyal officer who died “carrying out his duty”.
Unconfirmed reports from Russian and Ukrainian military-linked Telegram channels suggest the deaths were the result of a Ukrainian missile strike on a Russian command post near the town of Korenevo, around 30km (19 miles) from the border.
Ukraine has not officially commented on the attack – consistent with its usual policy of not confirming targeted strikes on Russian territory.
Gudkov had previously commanded the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade of the Pacific Fleet, a unit involved in heavy fighting across eastern Ukraine and later in the Kursk region itself.
Footage from the far eastern city of Vladivostok, home to Russia’s Pacific Fleet, showed mourners laying flowers at a makeshift memorial to Gudkov, who received the Gold Star medal of Hero of Russia in late 2023. He was seen receiving the honour from President Putin at a Kremlin ceremony in February.
Ukraine has not acknowledged involvement in Gudkov’s death.
However sources within Ukrainian security services have previously told the media, including the BBC, that they were behind similar targeted strikes, such as the killing of Gen Igor Kirillov in December 2024.
Earlier this year, General Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a car bomb attack in Moscow – an incident the Kremlin also blamed on Kyiv. At the time Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Ukraine of “continuing its involvement in terrorist activities inside our country”.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, there have been several high-level assassination plots on both sides.
Last year the Ukrainian security service (SBU) said it foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and other high-ranking Ukrainian officials.
At the start of the war, the Ukrainian leader said he was Russia’s “number one target”.
Meanwhile, officials in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa said two people were killed and six injured in a missile strike on the port on Thursday.
Earlier, strikes on the central city of Poltava targeting an army recruitment centre killed two people and wounded nearly 50 others, authorities said.