Mikhail Yevgenyevich Gudkov, deputy commander of the Russian Navy, was killed on Wednesday, in what the Defence Ministry described as "combat work" in the Kursk Region near Ukraine. Gudkov's death marks one of the highest-profile losses for Moscow since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Putin also emphasized the need to resolve the situation around Iran and in the broader Middle East “exclusively by political and diplomatic means,” the Kremlin aid said.