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Ex-President Trump indicated on Sunday that he is not really considering supplying Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles. After being asked by a reporter aboard his plane, he responded, “No, not really.” Recent accounts had claimed the U.S. Department of Defense informed the White House that American stockpiles of Tomahawks were ample to enable such a transfer.

Ukrainian Defense Efforts Persist Despite Weapon Lack

While Ukraine has been requesting Tomahawk missiles to execute long-range strikes against Russian targets, it has nonetheless managed to conduct a successful operation using its domestically-produced unmanned aerial vehicles and rockets against Moscow's military and key targets, such as fuel storage facilities and processing plants. This past Sunday, a Kyiv's airstrike struck the Tuapse oil port on the coast, igniting a fire and harming two ships, according to Moscow authorities. Nearby airfields in the region also had to be closed.

Turkey Oil Plants Turn to Alternative Crude Sources

Ankara's biggest oil refineries are boosting purchases of alternative crude in reaction to the recent international restrictions on Russia, according to market insiders. Turkey is a major buyer of Russian crude, together with China and India, but processing companies are following New Delhi's lead in cutting back supplies.

SOCAR Turkey Refinery Diversifies Crude Sources

A major Turkish refineries, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), owned by Azerbaijani company SOCAR, has lately acquired multiple shipments of crude from Iraqi, Kazakh, and additional non-Russian suppliers for year-end delivery, according to insiders. This represent approximately 77,000 to 129,000 barrels daily of non-Russian crude, varying by shipment volume. In contrast, Russian crude accounted for nearly all of the plant's supply in recent months, amounting to about 210,000 bpd, based on trade information. SOCAR declined to provide a statement.

Another Major Refiner Also Boosting Alternative Buys

Another major Turkish oil processor – Tupras refinery – was also raising purchases of alternative grades of crude, according to two sources. Tupras was furthermore expected to in the near future completely eliminate Russian crude at a key facility of its two main Turkish plants to continue fuel exports to the EU without breaching the European Union's incoming restrictions. The refiner did not respond to a request for a statement.

Ukrainian Deploys Elite Units to Eastern City

Kyiv has deployed special forces to the heavily contested east city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to repel an fierce Moscow's assault comprising thousands of troops, as stated by Kyiv’s senior military leader. Pokrovsk, called “the entrance to Donetsk,” lies on a key logistical route for the Kyiv's army and has been in Moscow’s sights for more than a year as Moscow pushes to control the whole eastern Donetsk region.

Latest Updates in the City

No fewer than two hundred Russian soldiers had breached the city's defensive lines, Kyiv said recently, while military experts assessed that others were advancing on its outskirts in a encircling movement. In his evening address on this past Sunday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of the fighting in Pokrovsk and “results in the elimination of the invading forces.”

Ukrainian President Announces Enhanced Air Defense System

Zelenskyy, who has been pushing his partners for additional air defences to counter Moscow's attacks, stated on this past Sunday that the country had reinforced its air-defence capabilities with Berlin's assistance. “We have strengthened the U.S.-made Patriot element of our Ukrainian air defence,” Zelenskyy said, referring to the sophisticated American air-defence systems. Not providing further information, the Ukrainian president specifically thanked Germany and its leader, Friedrich Merz, for gratitude.

Moscow's Strikes Claim Innocents, Disrupt Power

Russian unmanned aircraft and rockets fired at Ukrainian territory took the lives of no fewer than six individuals, among them two minors, and disrupted electricity to tens of thousands of households, officials reported on Sunday. Russian forces struck the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, said the office of Ukraine’s chief prosecutor. The victims were two boys aged eleven and fourteen, stated the nation's human rights commissioner. Russia’s attacks cut power to the whole east Donetsk area as well as almost 58,000 households in the south Zaporizhzhia region, their governors announced. Ukraine’s Vostok military unit confirmed some of its personnel were killed in a particular of the enemy strikes on the region.