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Ex-President Donald Trump indicated on Sunday that he was not really considering sending Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles. After being asked by a journalist on his plane, he answered, “No, not currently.” Recent reports had indicated the U.S. Department of Defense informed the White House that American inventories of Tomahawks were ample to enable such a transfer.

Ukraine's Military Efforts Continue Despite Missile Shortage

Although Ukraine has been seeking Tomahawk missiles to conduct long-range strikes against Russian targets, it has nonetheless succeeded to wage a successful campaign using its domestically-produced unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles against Moscow's military and strategic targets, including fuel storage facilities and refineries. This past Sunday, a Ukrainian drone attack struck the port facility on the Black Sea, causing a fire and damaging two ships, as stated by Moscow officials. Adjacent Russian airports in the region also had to be closed.

Turkey Oil Plants Shift to Alternative Oil Supplies

Ankara's biggest oil refineries are boosting procurement of alternative crude in response to the latest international restrictions on Russia, according to industry insiders. Turkey is a significant purchaser of oil from Russia, together with China and India, but processing companies are following India's lead in reducing imports.

SOCAR Turkey Refinery Diversifies Crude Procurement

A major Turkish refineries, the STAR refinery, operated by Azerbaijani firm SOCAR, has lately purchased four cargoes of crude from Iraq, Kazakh, and other alternative suppliers for year-end arrival, as per insiders. These purchases amount to roughly tens of thousands of barrels per day (bpd) of non-Russian crude, varying by shipment volume. By comparison, oil from Russia accounted for virtually the entirety of the STAR refinery's supply in October and September, totaling approximately 210,000 barrels per day, according to trade data. SOCAR refused to provide a statement.

Another Major Refiner Also Increasing Alternative Buys

The other major Turkish oil processor – Tupras – was also increasing purchases of non-Russian grades of crude, according to multiple sources. Tupras was also likely to soon completely phase out Russian crude at a key facility of its two main domestic plants to continue petroleum shipments to the EU without breaching the European Union's incoming sanctions. Tupras declined to comment to a request for a statement.

Ukrainian Deploys Special Forces to Eastern City

Ukraine has deployed elite troops to the heavily contested eastern city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to push back an intense Russian offensive involving a large number of soldiers, as stated by Ukraine's top commander. Pokrovsk, called “the entrance to Donetsk,” lies on a key logistical line for the Kyiv's army and has been under Moscow’s crosshairs for more than a twelve months as Moscow aims to control the whole east Donetsk area.

Latest Updates in Pokrovsk

No fewer than 200 Moscow's soldiers had penetrated Pokrovsk’s defences, Kyiv reported recently, while military experts concluded that additional forces were closing in on its perimeter in a encircling maneuver. In his evening speech on Sunday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the fighting in Pokrovsk and “successes in the elimination of the occupiers.”

Ukrainian President Announces Strengthened Air Defense System

Zelenskyy, who has been pushing his partners for additional air defense systems to counter Moscow's attacks, announced on this past Sunday that the country had strengthened its air defense capabilities with Germany’s support. “We have boosted the Patriot component of our Ukrainian air defense,” Zelenskyy declared, referring to the sophisticated U.S.-made defense systems. Not providing additional information, the Ukrainian president singled out Berlin and its chancellor, the German chancellor, for gratitude.

Moscow's Attacks Claim Innocents, Disrupt Power

Russian drones and missiles fired at Ukrainian territory took the lives of no fewer than six individuals, including two children, and disrupted power to thousands of households, officials said on Sunday. Russian forces struck the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa areas, according to the office of the country's chief prosecutor. The children were two boys aged eleven and 14, said the nation's human rights commissioner. The attacks disrupted electricity to the entire east Donetsk region as well as almost 58 thousand households in the south Zaporizhzhia region, their local leaders said. Ukraine’s Vostok military unit confirmed some of its personnel were killed in one of the Russian strikes on Dnipropetrovsk.