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A regional governor confirmed Major General Mikhail Gudkov was killed in a Ukrainian attack in Russia’s Kursk region
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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.
Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Denmark for talks with the country’s prime minister and EU leader on Thursday.
The Ukrainian President travelled to Aarhus as Denmark begins its European Union presidency, the Danish prime minister’s office said.
He will meet with Danish prime minister Mette Fredericksen and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, both staunch backers of Ukraine.
“Ukraine belongs in the EU. It is in the interest of both Denmark and Europe. Therefore, the Danish Presidency will do everything we can to help Ukraine on its path towards EU membership,” Frederiksen said in a statement.
Ukraine’s EU membership path is being blocked by Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orban insists that Ukraine should remain a buffer zone between Russia and NATO countries.
During his visit to Denmark, Zelenskyy is also expected to discuss cooperation in the defence industry and new sanctions against Russia. He is also likely to have an audience with King Frederik X of Denmark.
Major General Mikhail Gudkov is one of the most senior Russian officers to have been killed by Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in 2022.
Regional governor Oleg Kozhemyako, who said he had spoken to Gudkov a lot over the years, said in a statement that Gudkov had been killed “carrying out his duty as an officer” along with others, and expressed his condolences to the dead men’s relatives.
“When he became Deputy Chief of the Navy, he did not stop personally visiting the positions of our marines,” Kozhemyako said on Telegram.
Gudkov had been appointed deputy commander-in-chief of the Navy in March by Russian president Vladimir Putin, according to a statement on the Kremlin’s website.
He had received awards for bravery in military action against Ukraine and had been accused by Kyiv of war crimes.
There was no immediate comment from the Russian Defence Ministry or from Ukraine.
Gudkov had led a Marine Brigade of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, which had been fighting in Kursk.
The deputy head of the Russian Navy who also led a brigade fighting against Ukraine has been killed in Russia’s Kursk region, Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of a far eastern Russian region said on Thursday.
Unofficial Russian and Ukrainian military Telegram channels had earlier reported that Major General Mikhail Gudkov had been killed along with 10 other servicemen in a Ukrainian attack on a command post in Korenevo in the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine.
A woman in her 70s was killed, and two other people injured, by falling debris from a destroyed Ukrainian drone in Russia’s southwestern region of Lipetsk, regional governor Igor Artamonov said early on Thursday.
The debris fell on a residential building in the district surrounding the regional capital, killing the woman and injuring two more, Artamonov said on the Telegram messaging app.
Artamonov said in another post that an apartment building under construction in the city of Yelets in the Lipetsk region was damaged as result of an attack and that a small fire broke out at a nearby parking lot.
The full damage were not immediately known. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine about the attack.
A Russian attack on a Ukrainian city has killed two people and wounded 11 others.
The attack on Poltava in central Ukraine also damaged a military recruitment centre, Ukrainian land forces said on Thursday.
The attack caused fires in the military recruitment building and in the nearby residential building, it said in a statement.
Regional governor Volodymyr Kohut said civilian infrastructure was also damaged in the attack.
US president Donald Trump’s decision to halt critical weapons shipment to Ukraine has been met with some pushback from Republican and Democratic boosters on Capitol Hill, as his lawmakers called on him to help Kyiv defend against “brutal invading dictator”.
In a letter to Mr Trump yesterday, Republican Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa, requested a briefing from the White House and the Pentagon to explain the pause.
Mr Fitzpatrick is a co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. “We must build up our own defense industrial base here in the US while simultaneously providing the needed assistance to our allies who are defending their freedom from a brutal invading dictator,” the Pennsylvania representative said in a post on X. “To not do both is unacceptable.”
Ohio Rep Marcy Kaptur, another co-chair of the Ukraine Caucus, blasted the move that came just days after Russians forces launched one of the biggest air assaults on Ukraine since it launched the war more than three years ago.
“US made air defence systems, including the Patriot platform, are the centerpiece of Ukraine’s defences against Russian strikes. They work. They save lives every day,” the Ohio Democrat said.
“But there are no parallel defensive alternatives for Ukraine if the US stops supplying these vital munitions.”
Ukrainian blog DeepState, which uses open-source data to map the frontline, said the Russian military in June had seized 556 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory, which it said was the largest monthly loss of ground since November.
Russian forces, which have numerical superiority, cut the main road linking Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka in May, complicating Ukrainian movements and resupply efforts.
“The Russian advance is being contained, but their crossing of the Pokrovsk-Kostyantynivka highway is a strategic and logistical setback,” said Viktor Trehubov, a spokesperson for the Khortytsia group of forces.
Heavy Russian losses have prevented Russian advances toward Kostiantynivka via Chasiv Yar, or along the western Pokrovsk front. “Now they are attempting (to advance) further away from populated areas,” Trehubov said.
DeepState also reported that Russian advances in June near Pokrovsk and nearby Novopavlivka accounted for more than half of all Russian gains along the entire frontline in all of Ukraine.
Trehubov said Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka remain Ukrainian logistical hubs, despite setbacks and drone activity which make some defensive fortifications less effective.
“(Drones) hinder logistics for both sides but don’t make it impossible. Drones after all are not invulnerable,” he said.
The European Union’s top diplomat urged China’s foreign minister on Wednesday to end restrictions on rare earths exports and warned that Chinese firms’ support for Russia’s war in Ukraine posed a serious threat to European security, the EU said.
The statement from the EU’s diplomatic service came after Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s high representative for foreign policy, met Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in Brussels.
Ms Kallas “called on China to put an end to its distortive practices, including its restrictions on rare earth exports, which pose significant risks to European companies and endanger the reliability of global supply chains”, the EU said.
She also “highlighted the serious threat Chinese companies’ support for Russia’s illegal war poses to European security”.
The top EU official called on China “to immediately cease all material support that sustains Russia’s military industrial complex” and support “a full and unconditional ceasefire” and a “just and lasting peace in Ukraine”.
China says it does not provide military support to Russia for the war in Ukraine. But European officials say Chinese companies provide many of the vital components for Russian drones and other weapons used in Ukraine.
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Ukraine-Russia war latest: Deputy head of Russian Navy killed in Ukrainian attack on Kursk – The Independent
