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Ex-President Trump remarked on Sunday that he is not seriously contemplating sending Ukraine with advanced Tomahawk missiles. After being asked by a journalist on Air Force One, he answered, “No, not at the moment.” Recent reports had claimed the Pentagon informed the White House that American stockpiles of Tomahawks were adequate to enable this delivery.

Ukraine's Military Actions Continue Without Weapon Shortage

While Ukrainian forces has been requesting Tomahawk missiles to conduct far-reaching attacks against Russian targets, it has still managed to conduct a effective campaign using its domestically-produced unmanned aerial vehicles and rockets against Moscow's military and key targets, including fuel storage facilities and refineries. This past Sunday, a Kyiv's airstrike targeted the Tuapse oil port on the Black Sea, igniting a fire and damaging two ships, according to Russian authorities. Adjacent airfields in the area also had to be shut down.

Turkey Oil Plants Turn to Non-Russian Oil Supplies

Ankara's largest oil refineries are increasing purchases of non-Russian crude in reaction to the latest western restrictions on Moscow, as reported by industry sources. The country is a major purchaser of Russian crude, along with China and New Delhi, but processing companies are following India's lead in cutting back imports.

STAR Refinery Expands Oil Sources

A major Turkish refining plants, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), owned by Azerbaijani firm SOCAR, has recently purchased multiple cargoes of crude from Iraqi, Kazakh, and other non-Russian suppliers for year-end delivery, as per sources. This amount to approximately tens of thousands of barrels daily of non-Russian supply, varying by cargo size. In contrast, Russian crude made up nearly the entirety of the STAR refinery's crude intake in recent months, amounting to approximately 210,000 bpd, based on market data. SOCAR declined to comment.

Another Major Refiner Also Increasing Non-Russian Buys

The other leading Turkish refiner – Tupras refinery – was additionally raising acquisitions of alternative types of crude, as stated by two sources. The company was also likely to soon completely phase out imports from Russia at a key facility of its two major Turkish refineries to maintain petroleum shipments to Europe without violating the EU’s incoming sanctions. The refiner declined to comment to a request for a statement.

Ukrainian Sends Elite Units to Eastern City

Kyiv has deployed special forces to the embattled east city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to repel an intense Russian assault involving thousands of soldiers, as stated by Ukraine's senior commander. The city, called “the gateway to Donetsk,” lies on a key logistical route for the Kyiv's army and has been in Moscow’s sights for over a year as Moscow aims to control the whole east Donetsk area.

Recent Developments in the City

At least 200 Russian troops had breached Pokrovsk’s defensive lines, Kyiv said last week, while analysts assessed that additional forces were advancing on its perimeter in a encircling movement. In his nightly speech on this past Sunday, the Ukrainian president spoke of the combat in the city and “successes in the destruction of the invading forces.”

Zelenskyy Announces Strengthened Air Defense System

Zelenskyy, who has been urging his partners for additional air defense systems to hold off Russia’s attacks, announced on Sunday that Ukraine had reinforced its air-defence capabilities with Berlin's assistance. “We have boosted the U.S.-made Patriot component of our Ukrainian air defence,” Zelenskyy declared, referring to the sophisticated American air-defence systems. Without offering further information, the Ukrainian leader singled out Berlin and its chancellor, Friedrich Merz, for thanks.

Moscow's Attacks Kill Innocents, Disrupt Power

Russian drones and missiles fired at Ukraine killed no fewer than 6 people, including 2 children, and cut power to tens of thousands of residents, authorities reported on this past Sunday. Moscow's military struck the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa areas, said the representatives of Ukraine’s prosecutor general. The victims were two boys of ages eleven and 14, said Ukraine’s human rights commissioner. Russia’s strikes disrupted electricity to the entire eastern Donetsk area as well as almost 58 thousand homes in the south Zaporizhzhia region, their governors announced. The Eastern army group confirmed a number of its personnel were killed in one of the Russian attacks on the region.