🔗 Share this article Trump Says He Isn't Considering Sending Long-Range Cruise Missiles to Kyiv. FormerPresident Donald Trump indicated on Sunday that he was not seriously planning supplying Ukrainian forces with advanced Tomahawk missiles. In response to a query by a reporter on his plane, he responded, “No, not at the moment.” Recent accounts had indicated the U.S. Department of Defense told the White House that American inventories of Tomahawks were ample to allow such a delivery. Ukrainian Military Efforts Continue Without Weapon Lack While Ukraine has been seeking Tomahawk missiles to carry out long-range attacks against Russia, it has still managed to conduct a effective operation using its own drones and missiles against Russian armed and strategic objectives, including oil depots and refineries. This past Sunday, a Kyiv's drone attack hit the port facility on the coast, igniting a fire and harming two vessels, as stated by Moscow officials. Nearby airfields in the region also had to be shut down. Turkey Oil Plants Shift to Non-Russian Crude Supplies Turkey's largest oil refining facilities are increasing procurement of non-Russian crude in reaction to the recent international restrictions on Russia, as reported by market sources. Turkey is a significant purchaser of Russian crude, together with China and India, but refiners are following New Delhi's lead in reducing supplies. SOCAR Turkey Plant Diversifies Oil Sources One of the largest Turkish refining plants, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), operated by Azerbaijani firm SOCAR, has lately acquired four cargoes of crude from Iraqi, Kazakhstan, and additional non-Russian suppliers for December delivery, according to sources. This represent approximately 77,000 to 129,000 barrels per day (bpd) of non-Russian crude, depending on cargo size. In contrast, Russian crude made up nearly all of the plant's crude intake in October and September, totaling about 210 thousand bpd, according to trade information. SOCAR declined to comment. Another Major Refiner Also Increasing Non-Russian Buys Another leading Turkish oil processor – Tupras – was also increasing acquisitions of alternative types of crude, according to two sources. Tupras was also expected to in the near future completely phase out Russian crude at a key facility of its two main Turkish plants to continue petroleum shipments to the EU without breaching the European Union's incoming sanctions. Tupras did not respond to a inquiry for comment. Ukrainian Sends Elite Units to Eastern City Kyiv has deployed special forces to the heavily contested east city of Pokrovsk in an effort to push back an intense Russian assault comprising a large number of troops, as stated by Kyiv’s top commander. Pokrovsk, dubbed “the gateway to Donetsk,” lies on a key logistical route for the Kyiv's military and has been under Moscow’s sights for more than a year as Russia pushes to seize the entire east Donetsk region. Latest Updates in Pokrovsk No fewer than 200 Russian troops had breached Pokrovsk’s defensive lines, Ukrainian officials said last week, while analysts concluded that others were closing in on its outskirts in a pincer-shaped maneuver. In his evening speech on this past Sunday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the fighting in Pokrovsk and “successes in the destruction of the invading forces.” Zelenskyy Announces Strengthened Air Defence Network Zelenskyy, who has been urging his partners for additional air defences to hold off Russia’s strikes, announced on Sunday that the country had strengthened its air defense network with Berlin's assistance. “We've strengthened the U.S.-made Patriot component of our Ukrainian air defence,” he said, referring to the sophisticated U.S.-made defense systems. Without offering further details, the Ukrainian president specifically thanked Berlin and its leader, the German chancellor, for gratitude. Moscow's Strikes Kill Civilians, Disrupt Power Moscow's drones and rockets targeting Ukraine took the lives of at least six people, among them 2 children, and disrupted electricity to thousands of residents, officials said on Sunday. Russian forces attacked the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa areas, said the representatives of the country's prosecutor general. The children were male minors of ages 11 and fourteen, said the nation's ombudsman. Russia’s attacks cut power to the entire east Donetsk region as well as almost 58 thousand households in the south Zaporizhzhia region, their governors said. Ukraine’s Eastern army group confirmed some of its members were killed in one of the Russian strikes on the region.