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FormerPresident Trump indicated this past Sunday that he is not really planning sending Ukrainian forces with advanced Tomahawk cruise missiles. After being asked by a journalist on his plane, he answered, “No, not currently.” Recent accounts had suggested the U.S. Department of Defense told the administration that U.S. inventories of Tomahawks were ample to enable such a transfer.

Ukraine's Military Efforts Continue Without Missile Lack

Although Ukrainian forces has been requesting Tomahawk missiles to execute far-reaching strikes against Russian targets, it has still succeeded to wage a effective operation using its own unmanned aerial vehicles and rockets against Moscow's military and strategic targets, including fuel storage facilities and refineries. This past Sunday, a Ukrainian airstrike struck the Tuapse oil port on the Black Sea, igniting a blaze and damaging two vessels, as stated by Moscow officials. Nearby airfields in the area also had to be shut down.

Turkey Refineries Turn to Alternative Crude Supplies

Turkey's biggest oil refining facilities are boosting purchases of non-Russian crude in reaction to the recent western restrictions on Moscow, as reported by industry insiders. The country is a significant purchaser of Russian crude, together with Beijing and India, but refiners are following India's lead in reducing supplies.

STAR Refinery Diversifies Crude Procurement

A major Turkish refining plants, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), operated by Azerbaijani company SOCAR, has recently acquired four cargoes of crude from Iraqi, Kazakh, and additional alternative producers for year-end arrival, as per insiders. This represent approximately tens of thousands of barrels daily of alternative crude, depending on cargo size. By comparison, oil from Russia made up nearly the entirety of the STAR refinery's crude intake in recent months, amounting to approximately 210 thousand bpd, based on trade data. SOCAR refused to comment.

Tupras Likewise Increasing Non-Russian Purchases

The other major Turkey's oil processor – Tupras – was additionally raising purchases of alternative grades of crude, according to multiple sources. Tupras was furthermore expected to in the near future completely eliminate Russian crude at a key facility of its primary main domestic plants to continue fuel shipments to Europe without breaching the EU’s upcoming restrictions. The refiner declined to comment to a inquiry for a statement.

Ukraine Deploys Elite Units to Pokrovsk

Kyiv has sent elite troops to the heavily contested eastern city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to repel an intense Moscow's offensive comprising thousands of soldiers, as stated by Kyiv’s senior military leader. Pokrovsk, dubbed “the gateway to Donetsk,” lies on a major supply line for the Kyiv's military and has been under Russia's sights for more than a year as Moscow pushes to seize the whole eastern Donetsk area.

Recent Developments in the City

At least two hundred Russian soldiers had penetrated the city's defensive lines, Ukrainian officials said recently, while military experts assessed that others were advancing on its outskirts in a encircling maneuver. In his nightly speech on this past Sunday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of the fighting in the city and “successes in the destruction of the occupiers.”

Zelenskyy Announces Strengthened Air Defense System

The president, who has been urging his partners for additional air defense systems to hold off Russia’s strikes, announced on this past Sunday that Ukraine had strengthened its air defense network with Germany’s assistance. “We have boosted the Patriot component of our Ukrainian air defence,” he declared, referring to the advanced American defense systems. Not providing additional details, the Ukraine's leader specifically thanked Berlin and its leader, the German chancellor, for gratitude.

Moscow's Attacks Claim Innocents, Disrupt Power

Russian unmanned aircraft and missiles targeting Ukraine took the lives of at least 6 individuals, including two children, and disrupted electricity to tens of thousands of residents, authorities said on this past Sunday. Moscow's military struck the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, said the office of the country's chief prosecutor. The children were male minors aged 11 and 14, said the nation's human rights commissioner. The attacks disrupted power to the whole east Donetsk area as well as nearly 58 thousand homes in the south Zaporizhzhia region, their local leaders announced. Ukraine’s Eastern military unit confirmed a number of its members were killed in one of the Russian attacks on Dnipropetrovsk.