A top, decorated Russian naval commander has been killed in Russia’s Kursk region, Russia said Thursday, one of its highest-ranking officers killed in the conflict with Ukraine to date. Maj. Gen. Mikhail Gudkov was the deputy commander in chief of the navy and led a brigade battling Ukrainian forces.

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.

The deputy head of the Russian military was killed during "combat work" in the Kursk region of Russia. He was the head of the Russian navy and had been appointed in March.