🔗 Share this article

FormerPresident Trump indicated on Sunday that he is not really contemplating providing Ukrainian forces with advanced Tomahawk missiles. In response to a query by a reporter aboard Air Force One, he responded, “No, not at the moment.” Earlier accounts had suggested the Pentagon told the administration that U.S. stockpiles of Tomahawks were sufficient to enable this transfer.

Ukrainian Defense Efforts Continue Despite Missile Shortage

While Ukraine has been pursuing Tomahawk missiles to carry out long-range strikes against Russia, it has nonetheless succeeded to conduct a effective operation using its own unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles against Moscow's military and key targets, such as fuel storage facilities and refineries. On Sunday, a Kyiv's airstrike struck the Tuapse oil port on the Black Sea, igniting a blaze and harming two ships, according to Russian officials. Adjacent Russian airports in the region also had to be closed.

Turkish Refineries Shift to Non-Russian Oil Supplies

Turkey's biggest oil refining facilities are boosting purchases of alternative crude in response to the latest western restrictions on Moscow, as reported by industry sources. Turkey is a significant buyer of oil from Russia, along with Beijing and New Delhi, but processing companies are mirroring India's lead in reducing imports.

STAR Refinery Diversifies Oil Procurement

A major Turkey's refineries, the STAR refinery, owned by Azerbaijani company SOCAR, has lately acquired multiple cargoes of crude from Iraq, Kazakh, and additional alternative suppliers for year-end arrival, according to insiders. This amount to roughly 77,000 to 129,000 barrels daily of alternative supply, depending on cargo size. In contrast, oil from Russia accounted for nearly the entirety of the plant's crude intake in October and September, amounting to approximately 210,000 barrels per day, based on trade information. SOCAR declined to provide a statement.

Another Major Refiner Also Increasing Alternative Purchases

Another major Turkey's refiner – Tupras refinery – was also raising acquisitions of non-Russian grades of crude, according to multiple sources. The company was furthermore expected to soon entirely phase out Russian crude at a key facility of its primary major domestic plants to continue petroleum exports to Europe without violating the European Union's upcoming sanctions. Tupras declined to comment to a inquiry for comment.

Ukrainian Deploys Elite Units to Pokrovsk

Ukraine has deployed special forces to the heavily contested east city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to push back an intense Moscow's offensive comprising a large number of troops, as stated by Kyiv’s senior military leader. Pokrovsk, dubbed “the entrance to Donetsk,” lies on a key logistical route for the Ukrainian military and has been in Russia's sights for more than a year as Moscow pushes to seize the whole east Donetsk region.

Latest Developments in Pokrovsk

No fewer than two hundred Russian troops had penetrated Pokrovsk’s defensive lines, Ukrainian officials reported last week, while military experts assessed that additional forces were advancing on its outskirts in a encircling movement. In his nightly speech on Sunday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the fighting in Pokrovsk and “successes in the destruction of the occupiers.”

Ukrainian President Reveals Enhanced Air Defense System

Zelenskyy, who has been urging his partners for more air defense systems to counter Moscow's attacks, announced on this past Sunday that Ukraine had strengthened its air defense capabilities with Germany’s assistance. “We have strengthened the U.S.-made Patriot element of our Ukrainian air defense,” he declared, referring to the advanced U.S.-made air-defence systems. Without providing additional details, the Ukraine's leader singled out Berlin and its chancellor, the German chancellor, for thanks.

Russian Attacks Claim Innocents, Cut Power

Russian unmanned aircraft and rockets targeting Ukrainian territory took the lives of at least 6 people, including two children, and cut power to tens of thousands of households, officials reported on Sunday. Russian forces struck the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa areas, said the representatives of the country's chief prosecutor. The children were two boys aged eleven and fourteen, stated the nation's human rights commissioner. The strikes cut power to the whole eastern Donetsk area as well as almost 58,000 households in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, their local leaders announced. The Vostok army group said some of its personnel were killed in one of the Russian attacks on Dnipropetrovsk.