Reports of the potential loss of this high-ranking naval officer surfaced on social media on July 2, but official confirmation of his identity and death was only provided now.
NV details who else from the high-ranking officer corps Russia has lost since the beginning of the full-scale war and where Gudkov stands in this hierarchy.
Mikhail Gudkov became the deputy commander of the Russian Navy in March. Previously, he commanded the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet, implicated in war crimes, including the killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war, torture, and even dismemberment of Ukrainian soldiers.
According to available data, Major General Gudkov was killed by a Ukrainian missile strike in Kursk Oblast. Alongside him, his aide Nariman Shikhaliev and possibly other Russian soldeirs were also killed.
Gudkov represents the highest-ranking loss for the Russian armed forces in terms of position since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. In December 2024, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the radiation, chemical, and biological defense troops, was killed in Moscow by a rigged scooter near his home. Although Kirillov held a higher rank than Gudkov, his position and authority were narrower in scope.
The position of deputy commander of the Navy is part of the command structure of one of the three main branches of the Russian Armed Forces—the Navy, Air Force, and Ground Forces—directly subordinate to the Commander of the Naval Forces. Such commanders influence the strategic application of military branches and manage combat operations on the front lines.
Meanwhile, Kirillov reported to the Chief of the General Staff and headed only a control center of one of the special services within the Russian Armed Forces. This pertains to branches of the military, which are specializations within the armed forces, including artillery, engineering troops, and radiation, chemical, and biological defense. Here, the command staff influences only the processes within individual branches, executes orders for their deployment, and has no relation to managing frontline operations.
Mikhail Gudkov had an exceptionally significant influence and authority. During his appointment, dictator Vladimir Putin specifically noted that Gudkov would oversee all naval infantry and coastal defense of the Russian Navy.
Who else among Russia's top commanders has died in the war against Ukraine
Over more than three years of war, Ukrainian Defense Forces have repeatedly struck command posts and eliminated high-ranking Russian military officials. Special services have conducted operations even deep within Russia’s rear. Here are some of the losses confirmed by both sides:
On Feb. 28, 2022, Deputy Commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army, Major General Andrey Sukhovetsky, was likely killed by a sniper. This was the first loss among Russia’s generals. Military historian Jack McCall wrote in 2022 that Sukhovetsky became the second Russian general to be killed directly in battle with Ukrainians. Before him, this "honor" was bestowed upon Red Army General Nikolai Vatutin, who was killed by UPA fighters in 1944.
Major General Roman Kutuzov, commander of the corps based on the 1st Tank Army, was killed on June 5, 2022, in Luhansk Oblast.
Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov, Deputy Commander of the 8th Army, became a figure in a criminal case on charges of fraud, but he did not live to see the verdict—he was killed on July 11, 2023, as a result of a missile strike on the Russian headquarters in occupied Berdyansk.
Another Deputy Commander of the 8th Army, Major General Vladimir Frolov, was eliminated by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on March 10, 2022, in Mariupol.
Major General Sergei Goryachev, Deputy Chief of Staff of the 35th Combined Arms Army of the Russian Federation, was killed on June 12, 2023. That day, a missile strike by the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed the base, warehouses, and headquarters of the 35th Army in Primorsk (occupied part of Zaporizhzhya Oblast).
Additionally, there is a long list of generals and high-ranking officials whose elimination has been reported by Ukrainian sources, but there is no official confirmation of their deaths at present. However, none of them held a position or rank higher than Guards Major General Mikhail Gudkov, Deputy Commander of the Russian Navy.