🔗 Share this article

Ex-President Donald Trump indicated on Sunday that he was not actively planning providing Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles. When questioned by a journalist aboard his plane, he responded, “No, not at the moment.” Earlier reports had indicated the U.S. Department of Defense informed the administration that American inventories of Tomahawks were adequate to enable this delivery.

Ukraine's Military Efforts Persist Despite Weapon Shortage

Although Ukrainian forces has been requesting Tomahawk missiles to carry out long-range attacks against Russian targets, it has nonetheless managed to wage a effective operation using its own unmanned aerial vehicles and rockets against Russian military and key targets, including fuel storage facilities and processing plants. This past Sunday, a Ukrainian airstrike struck the Tuapse oil port on the Black Sea, igniting a fire and damaging two ships, according to Russian officials. Adjacent Russian airports in the area also had to be shut down.

Turkish Refineries Shift to Non-Russian Oil Sources

Turkey's biggest oil refining facilities are boosting procurement of alternative crude in response to the recent international sanctions on Russia, according to industry insiders. Turkey is a major purchaser of oil from Russia, along with Beijing and India, but refiners are following New Delhi's example in reducing supplies.

SOCAR Turkey Plant Expands Oil Sources

A major Turkish refining plants, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), operated by Azeri company SOCAR, has recently purchased four shipments of crude from Iraqi, Kazakh, and other alternative producers for December delivery, according to insiders. This represent approximately 77,000 to 129,000 barrels daily of non-Russian supply, depending on cargo size. By comparison, Russian crude made up nearly the entirety of the plant's crude intake in recent months, totaling about 210 thousand barrels per day, based on trade information. SOCAR refused to provide a statement.

Tupras Also Increasing Non-Russian Buys

The other major Turkish refiner – Tupras refinery – was also raising acquisitions of non-Russian types of crude, according to multiple insiders. The company was furthermore likely to in the near future entirely phase out imports from Russia at a key facility of its primary main Turkish plants to maintain petroleum exports to the EU without breaching the EU’s upcoming restrictions. Tupras declined to comment to a inquiry for comment.

Ukrainian Deploys Special Forces to Eastern City

Ukraine has sent special forces to the embattled east city of Pokrovsk in an effort to repel an fierce Russian offensive comprising a large number of soldiers, as stated by Ukraine's senior commander. Pokrovsk, dubbed “the entrance to Donetsk,” lies on a major supply route for the Ukrainian army and has been under Moscow’s sights for more than a twelve months as Moscow pushes to seize the entire east Donetsk region.

Recent Updates in the City

No fewer than 200 Moscow's troops had breached the city's defences, Ukrainian officials reported last week, while analysts concluded that others were advancing on its perimeter in a pincer-shaped movement. In his evening address on this past Sunday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of the combat in Pokrovsk and “results in the elimination of the occupiers.”

Zelenskyy Announces Strengthened Air Defence System

The president, who has been urging his partners for additional air defense systems to hold off Russia’s attacks, stated on this past Sunday that Ukraine had reinforced its air-defence capabilities with Germany’s support. “We have boosted the U.S.-made Patriot element of our Ukrainian air defence,” he declared, referring to the sophisticated American defense systems. Without providing further details, the Ukrainian president specifically thanked Berlin and its chancellor, the German chancellor, for gratitude.

Russian Strikes Claim Civilians, Cut Electricity

Russian unmanned aircraft and rockets targeting Ukraine killed at least six people, including two children, and disrupted electricity to thousands of households, officials said on Sunday. Moscow's military struck the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, according to the representatives of Ukraine’s chief prosecutor. The victims were two boys of ages 11 and 14, stated the nation's human rights commissioner. Russia’s strikes cut power to the whole eastern Donetsk area as well as almost 58,000 homes in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, their local leaders said. The Eastern army group said a number of its personnel were killed in a particular of the Russian attacks on Dnipropetrovsk.