Donald Trump Affirms He Is Not Considering Supplying Long-Range Cruise Missiles to Kyiv.

Ex-President Donald Trump remarked this past Sunday that he was not really contemplating supplying Ukraine with advanced Tomahawk missiles. When questioned by a journalist on his plane, he replied, “No, not really.” Recent accounts had claimed the Pentagon informed the White House that U.S. inventories of Tomahawks were sufficient to enable this transfer.

Ukrainian Defense Efforts Persist Without Weapon Shortage

Although Ukrainian forces has been pursuing Tomahawk missiles to conduct far-reaching strikes against Russian targets, it has still succeeded to wage a successful operation using its own drones and missiles against Moscow's armed and key objectives, including oil depots and refineries. On Sunday, a Ukrainian airstrike hit the Tuapse oil port on the coast, igniting a fire and harming two vessels, according to Russian officials. Adjacent airfields in the area also had to be closed.

Turkish Oil Plants Turn to Non-Russian Crude Sources

Ankara's largest oil refineries are boosting purchases of alternative crude in reaction to the latest western restrictions on Moscow, according to industry sources. Turkey is a significant buyer of Russian crude, together with Beijing and India, but refiners are mirroring New Delhi's lead in reducing imports.

SOCAR Turkey Plant Diversifies Oil Procurement

A major Turkish refining plants, the STAR refinery, owned by Azerbaijani company SOCAR, has recently purchased multiple cargoes of crude from Iraq, Kazakh, and additional non-Russian producers for December arrival, as per sources. This amount to roughly 77,000 to 129,000 barrels daily of non-Russian crude, depending on shipment volume. By comparison, oil from Russia accounted for virtually the entirety of the STAR refinery's supply in recent months, totaling approximately 210 thousand barrels per day, according to market information. SOCAR refused to provide a statement.

Tupras Likewise Increasing Alternative Purchases

The other leading Turkey's oil processor – Tupras refinery – was additionally increasing purchases of non-Russian types of crude, according to two sources. The company was furthermore expected to in the near future entirely phase out imports from Russia at one of its two major domestic refineries to maintain fuel exports to the EU without breaching the EU’s incoming sanctions. Tupras declined to comment to a request for a statement.

Ukraine Deploys Special Forces to Eastern City

Kyiv has deployed special forces to the embattled east city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to push back an fierce Moscow's assault comprising a large number of troops, as stated by Kyiv’s top military leader. The city, called “the entrance to Donetsk,” is located on a major logistical route for the Ukrainian army and has been in Russia's crosshairs for over a year as Moscow aims to control the entire eastern Donetsk area.

Recent Updates in the City

No fewer than two hundred Moscow's soldiers had breached the city's defensive lines, Kyiv said last week, while analysts assessed that additional forces were advancing on its perimeter in a pincer-shaped movement. In his nightly address on this past Sunday, the Ukrainian president mentioned the combat in Pokrovsk and “successes in the elimination of the occupiers.”

Zelenskyy Reveals Strengthened Air Defence System

The president, who has been urging his allies for additional air defense systems to hold off Moscow's strikes, stated on Sunday that the country had reinforced its air defense network with Germany’s assistance. “We have boosted the Patriot component of our Ukrainian air defence,” he said, mentioning the advanced American air-defence systems. Not providing further information, the Ukraine's leader specifically thanked Germany and its chancellor, Friedrich Merz, for gratitude.

Moscow's Strikes Claim Civilians, Disrupt Electricity

Moscow's unmanned aircraft and missiles fired at Ukrainian territory killed no fewer than 6 people, including two children, and disrupted electricity to tens of thousands of residents, authorities reported on Sunday. Russian forces struck the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, according to the office of the country's prosecutor general. The victims were male minors aged eleven and 14, said the nation's human rights commissioner. The attacks cut power to the whole east Donetsk region as well as almost 58 thousand homes in the south Zaporizhzhia region, their governors said. The Vostok army group confirmed some of its personnel were killed in a particular of the Russian attacks on the region.