FormerPresident Trump stated this past Sunday that he is not really considering supplying Ukrainian forces with advanced Tomahawk cruise missiles. In response to a query by a journalist aboard his plane, he replied, “No, not really.” Earlier reports had suggested the Pentagon informed the White House that U.S. stockpiles of Tomahawks were adequate to enable such a delivery.
While Ukrainian forces has been requesting Tomahawk missiles to conduct far-reaching attacks against Russia, it has nonetheless managed to conduct a effective operation using its domestically-produced unmanned aerial vehicles and rockets against Moscow's military and strategic targets, including oil depots and refineries. On Sunday, a Ukrainian drone attack hit the port facility on the Black Sea, causing a fire and damaging two vessels, according to Russian authorities. Adjacent Russian airports in the area also had to be shut down.
Turkey's largest oil refining facilities are increasing purchases of alternative crude in reaction to the recent international sanctions on Moscow, as reported by market sources. The country is a significant buyer of oil from Russia, along with China and India, but refiners are following India's example in cutting back supplies.
One of the largest Turkish refining plants, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), operated by Azeri firm SOCAR, has lately purchased four shipments of crude from Iraq, Kazakh, and additional alternative producers for year-end arrival, according to sources. This amount to approximately tens of thousands of barrels per day (bpd) of alternative supply, depending on shipment volume. By comparison, Russian crude made up nearly the entirety of the STAR refinery's supply in recent months, totaling approximately 210 thousand bpd, according to trade data. SOCAR declined to comment.
Another major Turkish refiner – Tupras refinery – was additionally increasing purchases of non-Russian grades of crude, according to two insiders. Tupras was also expected to in the near future entirely phase out Russian crude at a key facility of its two main domestic plants to maintain petroleum shipments to the EU without breaching the EU’s upcoming sanctions. The refiner declined to comment to a request for comment.
Kyiv has deployed special forces to the heavily contested eastern city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to repel an intense Russian assault involving a large number of troops, according to Ukraine's senior military leader. Pokrovsk, called “the entrance to Donetsk,” lies on a key supply route for the Kyiv's military and has been in Russia's crosshairs for over a year as Russia aims to seize the whole east Donetsk area.
No fewer than two hundred Russian soldiers had penetrated Pokrovsk’s defensive lines, Kyiv said recently, while analysts assessed that additional forces were closing in on its perimeter in a encircling movement. In his evening address on this past Sunday, the Ukrainian president mentioned the fighting in Pokrovsk and “successes in the destruction of the invading forces.”
The president, who has been pushing his allies for additional air defences to counter Moscow's attacks, announced on this past Sunday that the country had strengthened its air defense network with Germany’s support. “We have strengthened the Patriot component of our national air defense,” he said, mentioning the advanced U.S.-made defense systems. Without offering further details, the Ukrainian leader specifically thanked Germany and its leader, the German chancellor, for thanks.
Russian drones and rockets targeting Ukraine took the lives of at least 6 people, including two minors, and cut power to tens of thousands of households, authorities said on Sunday. Russian forces attacked the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, said the office of the country's prosecutor general. The victims were male minors of ages 11 and fourteen, stated the nation's ombudsman. The strikes cut electricity to the entire eastern Donetsk region as well as almost 58 thousand homes in the south Zaporizhzhia region, their local leaders said. The Vostok military unit confirmed some of its personnel were killed in one of the enemy attacks on Dnipropetrovsk.
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