Vladimir Putin has issued a chilling warning after Ukraine reportedly killed a senior intelligence general believed to be responsible for the Salisbury novichok poisoning. Kyiv’s special forces scored a stunning military success on Friday, when drones hit and critically damaged an oil tanker belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet.

The Qendil ship was sailing in waters off Libya’s coast in the Mediterranean Sea and erupted into a ball of flames following the attack. Ukraine’s Security Service (SSU) claimed responsibility for what they described as a “new, unprecedented special operation”. This marks the first time that a Russian tanker has been hit in neutral waters, with previous attacks on the shadow fleet having taken place in the Black Sea.

Unconfirmed reports also claim that Andrey Averyanov – a senior Russian military intelligence (GRU) general – was on board the Qendil when it was hit and died in the attack.

Commenting on the attack, a furious Vladimir Putin told a TV audience on Friday: “Russia is certainly going to respond”.

Averyanov, 60, has been widely identified as being the former commander of GRU Unit 29155.

The clandestine cell is suspected of being behind a number of assassinations, bombings and sabotage campaigns across Europe on behalf of the Kremlin.

This includes the botched attempt to kill former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal using the deadly nerve agent Novichok in 2018.

The poisoning left both victims critically ill, but they later recovered. However Dawn Sturgess was not so fortunate and died after coming across the toxin that had been thrown into a rubbish bin.

The news of Averyanov’s alleged death was broken by a pro-Ukraine blogger on their Telegram channel.

“According to preliminary [unconfirmed] data, General of the GRU Andrey Averyanov, along with several of his deputies, was allegedly eliminated with the ship.”

UK police and intelligence services concluded the attack was carried out by GRU officers operating under false identities.

Averyanov frequently travelled across Europe in shadow fleet vessels, while conducting covert missions, according to Ukrainian reports.