The deputy chief of the Russian Navy has been killed by Ukraine in Russia’s Kursk region, Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of the Primorsky region in Russia’s far east, said Thursday.

Deputy head of the Russian Navy Major General Mikhail Gudkov, who had led a brigade fighting against Ukraine, was killed in a Ukrainian attack on Russia's southern Kursk region, the Russian Defence Ministry confirmed on Thursday.

Major general Mikhail Gudkov was the deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy. He was also leading the 155th brigade that fought in the Ukraine war. He is one of Russia’s highest-ranking officers to have been killed since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.