🔗 Share this article Trump Affirms He Is Not Contemplating Providing Tomahawk Cruise Missiles to Ukraine. Ex-President Donald Trump stated this past Sunday that he was not actively planning sending Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles. In response to a query by a reporter on Air Force One, he replied, “No, not currently.” Recent accounts had indicated the Pentagon informed the White House that U.S. inventories of Tomahawks were adequate to allow such a delivery. Ukraine's Military Actions Continue Without Weapon Lack While Ukraine has been pursuing Tomahawk missiles to execute far-reaching strikes against Russian targets, it has still managed to wage a successful operation using its own unmanned aerial vehicles and rockets against Russian military and key objectives, including fuel storage facilities and processing plants. This past Sunday, a Kyiv's airstrike targeted the port facility on the coast, causing a fire and harming two vessels, as stated by Moscow authorities. Adjacent Russian airports in the region also had to be shut down. Turkish Oil Plants Turn to Non-Russian Oil Sources Ankara's biggest oil refineries are increasing procurement of alternative crude in response to the recent western sanctions on Russia, as reported by market insiders. The country is a significant buyer of oil from Russia, along with Beijing and New Delhi, but processing companies are following New Delhi's lead in cutting back imports. STAR Refinery Diversifies Oil Sources One of the largest Turkey's refining plants, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), operated by Azeri firm SOCAR, has lately purchased four shipments of crude from Iraq, Kazakh, and additional non-Russian producers for year-end arrival, according to sources. These purchases represent approximately 77,000 to 129,000 barrels per day (bpd) of alternative crude, depending on cargo size. In contrast, oil from Russia accounted for nearly all of the STAR refinery's crude intake in October and September, amounting to approximately 210 thousand bpd, based on trade information. SOCAR refused to comment. Tupras Also Increasing Alternative Purchases Another leading Turkey's oil processor – Tupras refinery – was also raising acquisitions of non-Russian types of crude, according to multiple sources. The company was also likely to soon entirely phase out Russian crude at a key facility of its two major domestic plants to maintain fuel exports to Europe without breaching the EU’s incoming sanctions. Tupras declined to comment to a inquiry for a statement. Ukraine Sends Special Forces to Pokrovsk Ukraine has sent special forces to the heavily contested east city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to push back an fierce Moscow's offensive comprising a large number of soldiers, as stated by Kyiv’s senior commander. Pokrovsk, called “the gateway to Donetsk,” is located on a major supply line for the Kyiv's army and has been under Russia's crosshairs for more than a year as Moscow pushes to control the whole eastern Donetsk area. Recent Developments in Pokrovsk At least 200 Moscow's soldiers had penetrated Pokrovsk’s defensive lines, Ukrainian officials reported last week, while analysts assessed that others were closing in on its perimeter in a encircling movement. In his nightly address on Sunday, the Ukrainian president mentioned the combat in Pokrovsk and “successes in the destruction of the occupiers.” Ukrainian President Announces Enhanced Air Defence System The president, who has been urging his allies for more air defences to counter Moscow's attacks, stated on this past Sunday that Ukraine had strengthened its air-defence network with Germany’s support. “We have strengthened the Patriot component of our national air defense,” he declared, referring to the advanced U.S.-made defense systems. Not offering additional details, the Ukrainian leader singled out Germany and its leader, Friedrich Merz, for gratitude. Moscow's Strikes Claim Innocents, Disrupt Electricity Moscow's drones and missiles fired at Ukrainian territory took the lives of no fewer than six individuals, among them 2 minors, and cut electricity to tens of thousands of households, authorities said on Sunday. Russian forces struck the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa areas, said the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general. The victims were two boys aged eleven and fourteen, said the nation's ombudsman. The strikes disrupted electricity to the whole eastern Donetsk area as well as almost 58 thousand homes in the south Zaporizhzhia region, their governors announced. Ukraine’s Vostok army group confirmed a number of its personnel were killed in one of the enemy strikes on Dnipropetrovsk.