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Ex-President Donald Trump stated this past Sunday that he was not really considering providing Ukrainian forces with advanced Tomahawk missiles. In response to a query by a reporter aboard Air Force One, he responded, “No, not really.” Recent accounts had suggested the Pentagon informed the White House that U.S. inventories of Tomahawks were sufficient to enable such a transfer.

Ukraine's Defense Efforts Persist Without Missile Lack

While Ukraine has been pursuing Tomahawk missiles to carry out far-reaching attacks against Russian targets, it has still succeeded to wage a effective operation using its own unmanned aerial vehicles and rockets against Russian armed and strategic targets, including fuel storage facilities and processing plants. On Sunday, a Kyiv's airstrike struck the port facility on the coast, igniting a fire and harming two vessels, according to Moscow officials. Nearby 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 procurement of alternative crude in response to the recent western restrictions on Russia, as reported by market sources. The country is a major purchaser of Russian crude, together with Beijing and India, but processing companies are mirroring New Delhi's lead in reducing imports.

SOCAR Turkey Refinery Diversifies Oil Sources

A major Turkish refineries, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), operated by Azerbaijani company SOCAR, has recently purchased multiple shipments of crude from Iraq, Kazakh, and additional non-Russian suppliers for year-end arrival, as per sources. These purchases represent approximately 77,000 to 129,000 barrels daily of alternative crude, depending on cargo size. In contrast, oil from Russia accounted for nearly all of the STAR refinery's supply in recent months, amounting to about 210 thousand barrels per day, according to trade data. SOCAR declined to provide a statement.

Another Major Refiner Likewise Increasing Alternative Buys

Another major Turkey's oil processor – Tupras – was additionally raising purchases of non-Russian types of crude, according to two insiders. The company was furthermore expected to soon completely phase out imports from Russia at a key facility of its two major domestic plants to continue fuel exports to Europe without breaching the European Union's incoming sanctions. The refiner did not respond to a inquiry for a statement.

Ukraine Deploys Elite Units to Eastern City

Ukraine has deployed special forces to the embattled eastern city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to repel an intense Moscow's offensive comprising a large number of troops, as stated by Kyiv’s top military leader. The city, called “the gateway to Donetsk,” lies on a key supply line for the Ukrainian military and has been under Russia's sights for more than a twelve months as Moscow pushes to control the whole east Donetsk area.

Latest Updates in the City

No fewer than 200 Russian soldiers had breached the city's defences, Kyiv said recently, while military experts concluded that additional forces were closing in on its outskirts in a encircling maneuver. In his evening speech on this past Sunday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the combat in the city and “successes in the elimination of the occupiers.”

Ukrainian President Reveals Strengthened Air Defence Network

The president, who has been pushing his partners for additional air defences to hold off Moscow's attacks, announced on Sunday that Ukraine had reinforced its air-defence network with Berlin's assistance. “We have boosted the Patriot component of our national air defense,” Zelenskyy declared, mentioning the advanced U.S.-made defense systems. Without offering additional details, the Ukrainian president specifically thanked Berlin and its chancellor, the German chancellor, for gratitude.

Moscow's Strikes Claim Innocents, Cut Power

Moscow's unmanned aircraft and missiles fired at Ukrainian territory took the lives of at least six individuals, among them two minors, and disrupted electricity to tens of thousands of households, officials said on Sunday. Russian forces struck the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, said the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general. The children were male minors of ages 11 and fourteen, said Ukraine’s ombudsman. The attacks cut power to the entire eastern Donetsk region as well as almost 58,000 households in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, their governors said. The Vostok military unit confirmed a number of its personnel were killed in one of the Russian strikes on Dnipropetrovsk.