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Ex-President Trump indicated on Sunday that he was not really planning supplying Ukraine with advanced Tomahawk cruise missiles. In response to a query by a reporter aboard Air Force One, he answered, “No, not really.” Earlier reports had claimed the U.S. Department of Defense informed the White House that American inventories of Tomahawks were sufficient to enable this delivery.

Ukraine's Military Actions Persist Without Missile Shortage

Although Ukrainian forces has been requesting Tomahawk missiles to execute long-range strikes against Russian targets, it has still managed to wage a effective campaign using its domestically-produced unmanned aerial vehicles and rockets against Russian armed and key targets, such as oil depots and refineries. On Sunday, a Ukrainian drone attack struck the Tuapse oil port on the coast, causing a blaze and harming two ships, as stated by Russian authorities. Adjacent Russian airports in the region also had to be closed.

Turkish Refineries Shift to Alternative Oil Sources

Turkey's biggest oil refining facilities are boosting purchases of alternative crude in reaction to the latest western restrictions on Russia, according to market sources. The country is a significant purchaser of oil from Russia, together with Beijing and New Delhi, but refiners are following India's lead in reducing supplies.

SOCAR Turkey Refinery Diversifies Oil Sources

One of the largest Turkish refining plants, the STAR refinery, owned by Azerbaijani firm SOCAR, has lately acquired multiple shipments of crude from Iraq, Kazakhstan, and additional alternative producers for year-end delivery, as per insiders. These purchases amount to roughly tens of thousands of barrels per day (bpd) of alternative crude, varying by shipment volume. By comparison, oil from Russia accounted for virtually the entirety of the plant's crude intake in recent months, totaling about 210,000 barrels per day, based on market information. SOCAR declined to comment.

Another Major Refiner Likewise Increasing Non-Russian Purchases

The other major Turkish refiner – Tupras – was additionally raising purchases of non-Russian grades of crude, according to two insiders. The company was also expected to soon completely eliminate Russian crude at a key facility of its primary main Turkish plants to continue fuel shipments to Europe without breaching the EU’s incoming restrictions. The refiner declined to comment to a inquiry for comment.

Ukraine Deploys Elite Units to Pokrovsk

Ukraine has sent special forces to the embattled eastern city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to repel an intense Russian offensive comprising thousands of soldiers, as stated by Ukraine's top commander. The city, dubbed “the gateway to Donetsk,” lies on a major logistical route for the Kyiv's military and has been under Moscow’s crosshairs for more than a year as Moscow pushes to seize the entire eastern Donetsk region.

Recent Developments in the City

No fewer than 200 Moscow's troops had breached Pokrovsk’s defensive lines, Ukrainian officials said last week, while military experts assessed that additional forces were closing in on its outskirts in a encircling maneuver. In his nightly address on this past Sunday, the Ukrainian president spoke of the fighting in the city and “successes in the elimination of the occupiers.”

Zelenskyy Announces Strengthened Air Defence Network

The president, who has been urging his partners for more air defences to counter Russia’s strikes, announced on this past Sunday that Ukraine had strengthened its air-defence network with Berlin's assistance. “We've strengthened the U.S.-made Patriot component of our national air defense,” he said, mentioning the sophisticated U.S.-made defense systems. Without offering further details, the Ukraine's president specifically thanked Berlin and its leader, Friedrich Merz, for gratitude.

Moscow's Strikes Kill Innocents, Cut Power

Russian drones and missiles targeting Ukrainian territory took the lives of no fewer than 6 people, among them 2 minors, and cut power to tens of thousands of households, authorities reported on this past Sunday. Moscow's military attacked the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa areas, according to the representatives of the country's prosecutor general. The victims were male minors aged 11 and fourteen, said Ukraine’s ombudsman. The attacks cut power to the entire eastern Donetsk region as well as nearly 58 thousand homes in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, their governors announced. Ukraine’s Eastern military unit said a number of its personnel were killed in a particular of the Russian strikes on Dnipropetrovsk.