Deputy head of the Russian Navy Major General Mikhail Gudkov, who had led a brigade fighting against Ukraine, was killed in a Ukrainian attack on Russia's southern Kursk region, the Russian Defence Ministry confirmed on Thursday.

Maj. Gen. Mikhail Gudkov, promoted to deputy head of the Russian Navy just a few months earlier, died in an apparent Ukrainian strike.

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 Kremlin has repeatedly said arms shipments to Ukraine from allies prolong the conflict Moscow started and raise the risk of escalation. The U.S. confirmed this week it had paused supplying some arms to fight Russian aggression.

On Tuesday the White House said that it had cut off some weapons deliveries to Ukraine in order "to put America's interests first".