Maj. Gen. Mikhail Gudkov is one of the highest-ranking Russian commanders killed in the war. His death comes as the U.S. seeks to pause military aid to Ukraine.

Major General Mikhail Gudkov, 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,

The Russian Navy's deputy commander Mikhail Gudkov was killed during "combat operations" in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, officials in Moscow said Thursday. Gudkov, who was promoted by President Vladimir Putin earlier this year,