🔗 Share this article Trump Affirms He Is Not Contemplating Sending Long-Range Cruise Missiles to Ukraine. Ex-President Donald Trump stated on Sunday that he is not really contemplating supplying Ukraine with advanced Tomahawk missiles. In response to a query by a reporter on Air Force One, he replied, “No, not at the moment.” Recent accounts had claimed the Pentagon informed the White House that U.S. stockpiles of Tomahawks were adequate to allow such a delivery. Ukraine's Defense Actions Continue Without Weapon Lack Although Ukraine has been pursuing Tomahawk missiles to execute far-reaching attacks against Russia, it has nonetheless succeeded to wage a effective operation using its own unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles against Moscow's military and strategic targets, such as fuel storage facilities and processing plants. On Sunday, a Kyiv's airstrike targeted the Tuapse oil port on the Black Sea, causing a fire and damaging two vessels, according to Moscow officials. Adjacent Russian airports in the region also had to be closed. Turkish Oil Plants Shift to Alternative Oil Supplies Turkey's largest oil refineries are boosting procurement of non-Russian crude in reaction to the recent western sanctions on Russia, as reported by industry insiders. Turkey is a significant purchaser of oil from Russia, together with Beijing and New Delhi, but refiners are mirroring New Delhi's lead in reducing supplies. SOCAR Turkey Refinery Diversifies Oil Procurement One of the largest Turkey's refining plants, the STAR refinery, owned by Azeri company SOCAR, has recently acquired four cargoes of crude from Iraq, Kazakh, and other alternative producers for December delivery, as per sources. These purchases amount to approximately 77,000 to 129,000 barrels per day (bpd) of alternative crude, varying by cargo size. In contrast, Russian crude accounted for virtually all of the STAR refinery's supply in recent months, amounting to approximately 210 thousand bpd, according to trade data. SOCAR declined to comment. Tupras Also Increasing Non-Russian Buys The other leading Turkey's refiner – Tupras – was additionally increasing acquisitions of alternative grades of crude, as stated by two insiders. Tupras was also likely to in the near future entirely eliminate imports from Russia at one of its primary main Turkish refineries to maintain fuel exports to the EU without violating the European Union's incoming restrictions. The refiner did not respond to a request for a statement. Ukraine 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 Moscow's assault involving thousands of troops, as stated by Kyiv’s top military leader. The city, called “the gateway to Donetsk,” is located on a major logistical route for the Ukrainian military and has been in Moscow’s sights for over a twelve months as Moscow aims to control the entire east Donetsk region. Recent Developments in Pokrovsk No fewer than 200 Moscow's troops had penetrated the city's defensive lines, Ukrainian officials reported last week, while analysts concluded that others were closing in on its outskirts in a encircling maneuver. In his evening address on this past Sunday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the combat in Pokrovsk and “results in the destruction of the invading forces.” Zelenskyy Reveals Strengthened Air Defense System Zelenskyy, who has been pushing his allies for more air defense systems to counter Russia’s strikes, announced on Sunday that Ukraine had strengthened its air-defence network with Berlin's support. “We have strengthened the U.S.-made Patriot component of our national air defense,” he said, referring to the advanced American defense systems. Without offering further details, the Ukrainian president specifically thanked Germany and its chancellor, Friedrich Merz, for gratitude. Russian Strikes Claim Innocents, Disrupt Power Russian unmanned aircraft and rockets targeting Ukrainian territory killed at least 6 individuals, including two children, and disrupted electricity to thousands of residents, officials said on Sunday. Moscow's military struck the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, said the office of Ukraine’s chief prosecutor. The victims were male minors aged 11 and fourteen, said Ukraine’s human rights commissioner. Russia’s strikes cut electricity to the entire east Donetsk region as well as nearly 58 thousand homes in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, their local leaders announced. Ukraine’s Vostok army group said some of its members were killed in a particular of the enemy strikes on Dnipropetrovsk.