Russian Marines' Commanding General Killed In Kursk HIMARS Strike

Ukraine has killed the deputy commander of the Russian Navy and commander of its land forces, including the naval infantry (marines) in a HIMARS strike on a headquarters in Kursk oblast. 

The General, Mikhail Gudkov, had commanded the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade, which occupied Bucha, Ukraine during the initial days of the invasion and where notorious war crimes were committed against the civilians resident in that town. Gudkov is considered one of those responsible for those crimes. The Ukrainians have a long memory and no mercy. JL 

Kieran Kelly and Iona Cleave report in The Telegraph:

One of Russia’s most senior generals, Mikhail Gudkov, has been killed in a Himars-missile strike. Gudkov, 42, who has been linked to war crimes, was killed in a precision strike on a command centre in Korenovo, Kursk. Ukrainian forces targeted the building where Gudkov, his deputy, and at least 20 others – most of them senior officers – were meeting. In charge of the navy’s coastal and land forces, including marine units, Gudkov is one of the most senior Russian military officers to have been killed by Ukraine. He led the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade, which has been rebuilt eight times after being decimated by Ukrainian forces. The brigade took part in the occupation of  Bucha, where war crimes were carried out against the civilian population

One of Russia’s most senior generals has been killed in a Himars-missile strike near the Ukrainian border.

Mikhail Yevgenyevich Gudkov, deputy commander of the Russian navy, was killed on Wednesday, Moscow’s defence ministry confirmed.

Gudkov, 42, who has been linked to war crimes, was killed in a precision strike using US-made Himars rockets on a command centre in Korenovo, Kursk, according to prominent Russian military bloggers.

Ukrainian forces targeted the building where Gudkov, his deputy, and at least 20 others – most of them senior officers – were meeting, according to reports.

 

In charge of the navy’s coastal and land forces, including marine units, Gudkov 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 is the latest Russian general to have been killed or assassinated in Russia’s war on Ukraine. Moscow has confirmed the deaths of 10 other generals, while Ukraine has claimed to have killed seven more, which Russia has neither confirmed nor denied.

 

Russian war bloggers said Gudkov, whose call sign was “Viking”, had been in overall command of marines advancing in Ukraine’s neighbouring Sumy region.

After being handed a top military honour in the Kremlin by Vladimir Putin in February, he was appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy in March 2025.

Prior to that, he led the 155th Separate Guards Naval Infantry Brigade, which has been rebuilt at least eight times throughout the war after being repeatedly decimated by Ukrainian forces.

The brigade is believed have taken part in the initial occupation of the Kyiv region shortly after the full-scale invasion, including Bucha, where war crimes were carried out against the civilian population, including rape, torture and mass murder.

 

After further heavy losses and failed assaults in Pavlivka in Donetsk and Kharkiv, the 155th was transferred to Kursk, which Ukraine invaded in August 2024, seizing a large swathe of Russian territory for seven months until its forces were pushed back.

In the far eastern port city of Vladivostok, the home base of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, mourners left flowers next to Gudkov’s portrait in the main square, where “heroes of Russia” are celebrated. 

Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Primorsky region, which includes the port, said that Gudkov was killed “carrying out his duty as an officer” along with others, and expressed his condolences to the dead men’s relatives.

“Romanov Light”, a pro-Kremlin war blogger, said Gudkov was regarded by troops as one of the most effective commanders and as one of the few to tell superiors the real situation on the ground.

Two killed in Ukraine military centre

The pinpoint strike comes as Russia targeted a military recruitment centre in the city of Poltava in central Ukraine, killing two people.

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.