🔗 Share this article Trump Affirms He Is Not Considering Supplying Tomahawk Missiles to Kyiv. Ex-President Trump stated this past Sunday that he is not seriously considering providing Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles. After being asked by a journalist aboard his plane, he answered, “No, not really.” Recent reports had suggested the U.S. Department of Defense told the White House that U.S. inventories of Tomahawks were adequate to enable this delivery. Ukrainian Military Efforts Persist Without Weapon Lack Although Ukrainian forces has been seeking Tomahawk missiles to carry out long-range attacks against Russia, it has nonetheless succeeded to wage a effective operation using its domestically-produced unmanned aerial vehicles and rockets against Moscow's armed and strategic targets, including oil depots and refineries. On Sunday, a Ukrainian drone attack struck the Tuapse oil port on the coast, causing a blaze and damaging two ships, as stated by Russian officials. Adjacent airfields in the area also had to be shut down. Turkish Refineries Turn to Alternative Oil Sources Turkey's largest oil refineries are boosting purchases of alternative crude in response to the recent international sanctions on Russia, as reported by industry sources. Turkey is a major purchaser of oil from Russia, together with Beijing and India, but refiners are following New Delhi's example in reducing supplies. STAR Plant Expands Oil Procurement A major Turkey's refining plants, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), operated by Azeri firm SOCAR, has lately acquired multiple cargoes of crude from Iraq, Kazakh, and other non-Russian suppliers for December delivery, as per sources. This amount to roughly tens of thousands of barrels daily of non-Russian supply, depending on shipment volume. In contrast, oil from Russia made up nearly all of the plant's crude intake in recent months, amounting to approximately 210,000 bpd, based on market data. SOCAR declined to comment. Tupras Also Increasing Non-Russian Buys Another leading Turkey's refiner – Tupras refinery – was also increasing acquisitions of non-Russian types of crude, as stated by two sources. The company was also expected to in the near future entirely phase out imports from Russia at a key facility of its two main Turkish plants to maintain petroleum exports to the EU without breaching the EU’s upcoming restrictions. The refiner did not respond to a request for comment. Ukrainian Deploys Special Forces to Pokrovsk Kyiv has sent special forces to the embattled eastern city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to push back an intense Russian assault involving a large number of soldiers, according to Ukraine's senior commander. The city, called “the gateway to Donetsk,” lies on a major supply line for the Ukrainian army and has been in Russia's crosshairs for more than a year as Russia aims to seize the entire eastern Donetsk area. Recent Developments in Pokrovsk No fewer than two hundred Russian troops had penetrated the city's defences, Kyiv reported recently, while military experts concluded that additional forces were closing in on its perimeter in a encircling movement. In his nightly address on Sunday, the Ukrainian president mentioned the fighting in the city and “successes in the elimination of the invading forces.” Ukrainian President Announces Enhanced Air Defense Network Zelenskyy, who has been pushing his partners for additional air defense systems to hold off Moscow's strikes, stated on this past Sunday that the country had strengthened its air-defence capabilities with Berlin's assistance. “We have strengthened the Patriot component of our national air defense,” he said, mentioning the sophisticated U.S.-made air-defence systems. Without providing further information, the Ukraine's leader singled out Germany and its chancellor, the German chancellor, for thanks. Moscow's Attacks Claim Civilians, Disrupt Electricity Russian unmanned aircraft and missiles targeting Ukrainian territory killed at least 6 people, among them 2 children, and cut electricity to tens of thousands of residents, officials reported on this past Sunday. Moscow's military struck the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa areas, according to the representatives of Ukraine’s chief prosecutor. The victims were male minors aged 11 and 14, stated Ukraine’s human rights commissioner. Russia’s attacks disrupted electricity to the whole east Donetsk region as well as almost 58 thousand homes in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, their governors said. Ukraine’s Eastern military unit confirmed some of its personnel were killed in one of the enemy attacks on Dnipropetrovsk.