FormerPresident Donald Trump stated on Sunday that he is not really contemplating sending Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles. When questioned by a journalist aboard Air Force One, he responded, “No, not at the moment.” Recent accounts had claimed the Pentagon told the administration that American stockpiles of Tomahawks were adequate to enable this delivery.
While Ukrainian forces has been pursuing Tomahawk missiles to execute far-reaching strikes against Russia, it has still succeeded to conduct a effective campaign using its domestically-produced unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles against Russian military and strategic targets, including oil depots and processing plants. This past Sunday, a Kyiv's drone attack hit the Tuapse oil port on the Black Sea, causing a fire and harming two vessels, according to Russian officials. Nearby airfields in the area also had to be shut down.
Ankara's biggest oil refineries are boosting procurement of non-Russian crude in response to the recent western sanctions on Moscow, according to industry sources. The country is a significant purchaser of oil from Russia, along with China and India, but processing companies are mirroring New Delhi's lead in cutting back supplies.
A major Turkey's refining plants, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), operated by Azeri firm SOCAR, has lately purchased multiple shipments of crude from Iraq, Kazakhstan, and additional alternative suppliers for December arrival, as per insiders. This represent roughly 77,000 to 129,000 barrels per day (bpd) of alternative crude, varying by cargo size. By comparison, Russian crude accounted for nearly the entirety of the plant's crude intake in October and September, amounting to about 210,000 barrels per day, according to market data. SOCAR declined to provide a statement.
Another major Turkish refiner – Tupras – was also raising purchases of alternative grades of crude, as stated by two insiders. Tupras was also likely to soon completely phase out Russian crude at one of its two major domestic plants to continue petroleum exports to the EU without breaching the European Union's upcoming restrictions. Tupras did not respond to a request for comment.
Kyiv has deployed elite troops to the heavily contested east city of Pokrovsk in an effort to push back an intense Moscow's assault comprising a large number of soldiers, according to Kyiv’s top commander. Pokrovsk, called “the gateway to Donetsk,” lies on a major logistical line for the Ukrainian army and has been under Moscow’s sights for more than a twelve months as Russia pushes to control the entire eastern Donetsk area.
At least two hundred Russian troops had penetrated the city's defensive lines, Kyiv reported recently, while analysts concluded that others were closing in on its perimeter in a pincer-shaped movement. In his nightly speech on this past Sunday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the fighting in the city and “results in the elimination of the occupiers.”
The president, who has been pushing his partners for more air defense systems to counter Russia’s attacks, announced on this past Sunday that Ukraine had reinforced its air-defence capabilities with Berlin's support. “We've strengthened the Patriot component of our Ukrainian air defence,” he declared, referring to the advanced U.S.-made air-defence systems. Without offering additional information, the Ukrainian president specifically thanked Germany and its chancellor, Friedrich Merz, for thanks.
Moscow's unmanned aircraft and missiles targeting Ukrainian territory took the lives of no fewer than 6 individuals, among them 2 minors, and cut power to thousands of residents, authorities said on Sunday. Moscow's military struck the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa areas, according to the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general. The victims were two boys of ages 11 and 14, stated Ukraine’s human rights commissioner. The strikes cut electricity to the entire east Donetsk region as well as nearly 58 thousand households in the south Zaporizhzhia region, their local leaders announced. The Vostok army group said some of its personnel were killed in a particular of the enemy strikes on Dnipropetrovsk.
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