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FormerPresident Trump stated this past Sunday that he was not really planning providing Ukrainian forces with advanced Tomahawk cruise missiles. In response to a query by a reporter on his plane, he replied, “No, not at the moment.” Recent reports had claimed the Pentagon told the administration that U.S. stockpiles of Tomahawks were ample to enable such a delivery.

Ukraine's Defense Actions Persist Without Missile Shortage

While Ukraine has been seeking Tomahawk missiles to carry out far-reaching strikes against Russia, it has nonetheless succeeded to conduct a successful operation using its own drones and rockets against Russian armed and key targets, including fuel storage facilities and refineries. On Sunday, a Ukrainian airstrike struck the port facility on the coast, causing a fire and damaging two vessels, according to Russian officials. Adjacent airfields in the area also had to be shut down.

Turkey Refineries Shift to Alternative Crude Sources

Turkey's largest oil refineries are boosting purchases of non-Russian crude in response to the recent international restrictions on Russia, according to market insiders. The country is a major buyer of Russian crude, along with Beijing and New Delhi, but processing companies are following New Delhi's example in cutting back imports.

STAR Refinery Diversifies Oil Sources

One of the largest Turkey's refining plants, the STAR refinery, owned by Azeri company SOCAR, has recently acquired four cargoes of crude from Iraqi, Kazakhstan, and other non-Russian producers for December arrival, as per insiders. These purchases amount to approximately tens of thousands of barrels per day (bpd) of non-Russian supply, varying by shipment volume. By comparison, Russian crude accounted for virtually the entirety of the STAR refinery's supply in recent months, amounting to approximately 210 thousand barrels per day, according to trade data. SOCAR declined to provide a statement.

Tupras Likewise Increasing Non-Russian Buys

The other major Turkish refiner – Tupras refinery – was also raising purchases of alternative types of crude, as stated by two sources. Tupras was furthermore likely to in the near future entirely eliminate imports from Russia at a key facility of its two major domestic plants to continue petroleum shipments to the EU without violating the EU’s upcoming restrictions. Tupras did not respond to a request for comment.

Ukraine Sends Elite Units to Pokrovsk

Kyiv has deployed special forces to the heavily contested eastern city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to repel an intense Russian offensive involving a large number of troops, according to Ukraine's top military leader. Pokrovsk, called “the entrance to Donetsk,” lies on a key supply line for the Ukrainian army and has been under Moscow’s sights for over a twelve months as Russia aims to seize the whole eastern Donetsk region.

Recent Developments in the City

At least 200 Moscow's troops had breached Pokrovsk’s defences, Ukrainian officials said recently, while military experts concluded that others were closing in on its outskirts in a pincer-shaped movement. In his evening speech on this past Sunday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the fighting in Pokrovsk and “successes in the destruction of the invading forces.”

Ukrainian President Reveals Enhanced Air Defence System

The president, who has been pushing his allies for more air defense systems to hold off Russia’s strikes, announced on Sunday that the country had strengthened its air-defence network with Germany’s assistance. “We have strengthened the Patriot component of our Ukrainian air defense,” he declared, referring to the sophisticated American defense systems. Without providing additional information, the Ukrainian president singled out Germany and its leader, Friedrich Merz, for gratitude.

Moscow's Strikes Claim Innocents, Disrupt Electricity

Moscow's drones and missiles fired at Ukraine killed at least 6 people, including two children, and disrupted power to tens of thousands of households, officials said on this past Sunday. Moscow's military attacked the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, according to the representatives of Ukraine’s prosecutor general. The victims were two boys of ages eleven and fourteen, said the nation's ombudsman. Russia’s attacks disrupted electricity to the entire eastern Donetsk region as well as almost 58 thousand homes in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, their governors said. Ukraine’s Eastern army group confirmed a number of its personnel were killed in a particular of the Russian attacks on Dnipropetrovsk.