🔗 Share this article Trump Affirms He Isn't Planning Sending Tomahawk Missiles to Ukraine. FormerPresident Trump stated this past Sunday that he is not actively contemplating sending Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles. After being asked by a journalist aboard his plane, he answered, “No, not at the moment.” Earlier accounts had indicated the Pentagon informed the White House that U.S. inventories of Tomahawks were sufficient to enable this delivery. Ukrainian Defense Actions Continue Without Missile Shortage While Ukraine has been pursuing Tomahawk missiles to execute long-range attacks against Russian targets, it has still succeeded to wage a effective operation using its own unmanned aerial vehicles and rockets against Moscow's armed and key objectives, including fuel storage facilities and processing plants. This past Sunday, a Kyiv's drone attack hit the Tuapse oil port on the Black Sea, causing a fire and damaging two ships, as stated by Russian officials. Adjacent airfields in the area also had to be closed. Turkish Refineries Turn to Non-Russian Oil Sources Turkey's largest oil refining facilities are boosting purchases of non-Russian crude in response to the latest western restrictions on Russia, according to industry insiders. Turkey is a significant purchaser of Russian crude, along with Beijing and New Delhi, but processing companies are mirroring New Delhi's example in reducing supplies. STAR Plant Expands Oil Procurement A major Turkish refining plants, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), operated by Azeri firm SOCAR, has lately purchased four cargoes of crude from Iraq, Kazakh, and additional non-Russian suppliers for year-end delivery, according to insiders. This represent roughly tens of thousands of barrels daily of alternative supply, varying by cargo size. By comparison, Russian crude made up virtually the entirety of the plant's crude intake in recent months, amounting to about 210,000 barrels per day, according to trade information. SOCAR declined to comment. Tupras Likewise Boosting Alternative Purchases The other leading Turkey's refiner – Tupras – was also raising purchases of alternative grades of crude, as stated by two insiders. The company was furthermore likely to in the near future completely phase out imports from Russia at a key facility of its two main domestic refineries to continue fuel shipments to Europe without breaching the European Union's upcoming sanctions. The refiner did not respond to a request for comment. Ukrainian Sends Special Forces to Pokrovsk Ukraine has sent special forces to the heavily contested east city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to repel an fierce Russian assault involving a large number of troops, according to Kyiv’s senior commander. The city, called “the entrance to Donetsk,” lies on a major supply route for the Kyiv's army and has been under Russia's crosshairs for more than a year as Moscow pushes to seize the entire eastern Donetsk area. Latest Developments in Pokrovsk No fewer than 200 Russian troops had breached the city's defences, Ukrainian officials said last week, while analysts concluded that additional forces were advancing on its outskirts in a encircling maneuver. In his nightly speech on this past Sunday, the Ukrainian president mentioned the fighting in the city and “results in the elimination of the occupiers.” Zelenskyy Reveals Enhanced Air Defence Network The president, who has been urging his partners for additional air defences to hold off Moscow's attacks, announced on this past Sunday that Ukraine had strengthened its air-defence network with Berlin's assistance. “We have boosted the U.S.-made Patriot component of our national air defence,” he declared, referring to the advanced U.S.-made air-defence systems. Without providing further details, the Ukraine's president singled out Germany and its leader, the German chancellor, for gratitude. Moscow's Attacks Kill Civilians, Cut Electricity Russian drones and missiles targeting Ukraine took the lives of no fewer than six individuals, including 2 children, and cut power to tens of thousands of households, authorities said on Sunday. Russian forces attacked the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, according to the office of Ukraine’s chief prosecutor. The children were male minors of ages eleven and fourteen, said Ukraine’s human rights commissioner. The attacks disrupted electricity to the whole east Donetsk region as well as almost 58,000 homes in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, their governors announced. The Vostok army group confirmed a number of its members were killed in one of the Russian strikes on the region.