🔗 Share this article Trump Affirms He Is Not Contemplating Sending Tomahawk Cruise Missiles to Kyiv. FormerPresident Donald Trump stated this past Sunday that he is not actively contemplating providing Ukraine with advanced Tomahawk cruise missiles. In response to a query by a journalist on Air Force One, he replied, “No, not really.” Earlier reports had claimed the Pentagon told the administration that American stockpiles of Tomahawks were sufficient to allow this transfer. Ukraine's Defense Efforts Persist Despite Weapon Shortage While Ukraine has been pursuing Tomahawk missiles to conduct long-range attacks against Russian targets, it has still managed to wage a effective operation using its own unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles against Russian armed and key targets, such as oil depots and processing plants. On Sunday, a Kyiv's drone attack hit the Tuapse oil port on the Black Sea, igniting a fire and damaging two vessels, according to Russian officials. Adjacent airfields in the region also had to be shut down. Turkish Refineries Turn to Non-Russian Crude Sources Ankara's biggest oil refineries are increasing purchases of non-Russian crude in reaction to the latest international restrictions on Russia, as reported by market insiders. Turkey is a major purchaser of Russian crude, together with Beijing and New Delhi, but processing companies are following India's example in cutting back supplies. SOCAR Turkey Refinery Diversifies Crude Sources One of the largest Turkish refining plants, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), owned by Azerbaijani company SOCAR, has lately purchased four cargoes of crude from Iraqi, Kazakh, and additional non-Russian suppliers for year-end arrival, according to insiders. This represent approximately 77,000 to 129,000 barrels per day (bpd) of non-Russian supply, depending on cargo size. In contrast, Russian crude made up nearly all of the STAR refinery's supply in recent months, totaling approximately 210,000 barrels per day, based on trade information. SOCAR refused to provide a statement. Tupras Also Increasing Non-Russian Purchases Another leading Turkey's refiner – Tupras refinery – was also increasing acquisitions of non-Russian grades of crude, as stated by multiple sources. Tupras was also likely to soon completely eliminate imports from Russia at a key facility of its primary major domestic refineries to continue fuel exports to the EU without violating the EU’s incoming sanctions. The refiner did not respond to a inquiry for a statement. Ukrainian Deploys Elite Units to Pokrovsk Ukraine has sent special forces to the embattled east city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to repel an intense Russian offensive involving a large number of troops, according to Ukraine's top commander. Pokrovsk, dubbed “the gateway to Donetsk,” lies on a key logistical line for the Ukrainian army and has been under Russia's sights for more than a year as Moscow pushes to seize the entire eastern Donetsk area. Recent Developments in Pokrovsk At least two hundred Moscow's soldiers had breached the city's defensive lines, Ukrainian officials said recently, while analysts assessed that others were closing in on its outskirts in a pincer-shaped maneuver. In his evening speech on Sunday, the Ukrainian president spoke of the combat in the city and “successes in the destruction of the occupiers.” Zelenskyy Reveals Enhanced Air Defense Network Zelenskyy, who has been urging his partners for additional air defense systems to counter Russia’s attacks, stated on Sunday that the country had strengthened its air defense capabilities with Germany’s support. “We have strengthened the U.S.-made Patriot component of our national air defense,” he declared, referring to the advanced American air-defence systems. Not offering further information, the Ukrainian leader specifically thanked Germany and its chancellor, the German chancellor, for thanks. Moscow's Strikes Kill Civilians, Disrupt Power Russian drones and rockets fired at Ukraine killed at least six people, among them two minors, and cut electricity to tens of thousands of households, officials said on this past Sunday. Russian forces struck the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, said the representatives of Ukraine’s prosecutor general. The victims were two boys aged eleven and fourteen, said Ukraine’s human rights commissioner. The strikes disrupted electricity to the entire east Donetsk area as well as almost 58 thousand homes in the south Zaporizhzhia region, their local leaders announced. Ukraine’s Eastern army group said a number of its members were killed in one of the Russian strikes on Dnipropetrovsk.