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FormerPresident Trump remarked this past Sunday that he is not really contemplating sending Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles. In response to a query by a journalist aboard his plane, he answered, “No, not really.” Earlier reports had suggested the Pentagon informed the White House that U.S. stockpiles of Tomahawks were adequate to allow this delivery.

Ukraine's Defense Actions Continue Despite Missile Lack

Although Ukrainian forces has been seeking Tomahawk missiles to conduct far-reaching strikes against Russia, it has nonetheless managed to wage a successful campaign using its own drones and rockets against Moscow's armed and key objectives, such as fuel storage facilities and refineries. On Sunday, a Kyiv's airstrike targeted the port facility on the Black Sea, causing a fire and harming two vessels, according to Moscow officials. Adjacent Russian airports in the area also had to be shut down.

Turkey Refineries Shift to Non-Russian Crude Sources

Ankara's biggest oil refining facilities are increasing purchases of non-Russian crude in response to the recent international restrictions on Russia, according to industry sources. Turkey is a major purchaser of oil from Russia, together with China and New Delhi, but processing companies are mirroring New Delhi's example in reducing supplies.

SOCAR Turkey Refinery Expands Oil Sources

A major Turkish refining plants, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), operated by Azeri company SOCAR, has lately purchased four cargoes of crude from Iraqi, Kazakh, and additional alternative suppliers for year-end arrival, as per sources. This amount to approximately tens of thousands of barrels per day (bpd) of alternative supply, varying by cargo size. By comparison, oil from Russia accounted for nearly the entirety of the STAR refinery's crude intake in recent months, totaling approximately 210 thousand barrels per day, according to trade data. SOCAR refused to provide a statement.

Tupras Also Increasing Alternative Buys

The other leading Turkish oil processor – Tupras – was additionally raising purchases of alternative types of crude, according to two sources. Tupras was also likely to in the near future completely eliminate Russian crude at a key facility of its two main domestic plants to maintain fuel shipments to Europe without violating the EU’s incoming sanctions. The refiner declined to comment to a request for a statement.

Ukrainian Deploys Special Forces to Pokrovsk

Ukraine has sent elite troops to the embattled east city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to push back an fierce Russian offensive comprising thousands of soldiers, as stated by Kyiv’s senior military leader. Pokrovsk, dubbed “the entrance to Donetsk,” is located on a major logistical line for the Kyiv's army and has been under Moscow’s crosshairs for over a year as Russia pushes to seize the entire eastern Donetsk area.

Latest Developments in the City

No fewer than two hundred Russian troops had breached Pokrovsk’s defences, Kyiv reported last week, while analysts assessed that others were advancing on its perimeter in a encircling movement. In his nightly address on this past Sunday, the Ukrainian president mentioned the fighting in the city and “successes in the elimination of the occupiers.”

Zelenskyy Reveals Enhanced Air Defence System

Zelenskyy, who has been urging his partners for additional air defense systems to hold off Russia’s strikes, stated on Sunday that the country had reinforced its air defense network with Berlin's assistance. “We've strengthened the U.S.-made Patriot element of our Ukrainian air defense,” he said, mentioning the advanced American defense systems. Without offering additional details, the Ukrainian president specifically thanked Germany and its leader, Friedrich Merz, for gratitude.

Moscow's Attacks Claim Civilians, Cut Power

Moscow's unmanned aircraft and missiles targeting Ukraine took the lives of at least 6 individuals, including 2 children, and cut electricity to tens of thousands of residents, authorities said on Sunday. Russian forces attacked the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa areas, according to the office of the country's prosecutor general. The victims were two boys aged 11 and fourteen, stated the nation's ombudsman. The strikes cut electricity to the entire eastern Donetsk area as well as almost 58 thousand households in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, their governors announced. The Eastern army group said a number of its personnel were killed in one of the Russian strikes on Dnipropetrovsk.