Turkish refineries cut back on Russian oil in response to sanctions; Ukrainian special forces join defence of embattled Pokrovsk. What we know on day 1,349

Donald Trump said on Sunday he was not really considering supplying Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles . Asked about it by a reporter aboard Air Force One, Trump responded: “No, not really.” Reports in recent days said the Pentagon had told the White House that the US stockpile of Tomahawks was sufficient to be able to supply them to Ukraine.

Ukraine has been seeking the Tomahawk missiles to carry out long-range strikes against Russia, but without them has still been able to wage a successful campaign using its own drones and missiles against Russian military and strategic targets such as oil depots and refineries. A Ukrainian drone attack struck Russia’s Tuapse oil port on the Black Sea on Sunday, causing a fire and damaging two ships, according to Russian authorities. Russian airports in nearby regions also had to be closed.

Turkey’s largest oil refineries are buying more non-Russian oil in response to the latest western sanctions on Russia, Reuters reported, citing two sources with direct knowledge of the matter and other industry sources. Turkey is a major buyer of Russian crude along with China and India but refiners are following India in cutting back.

One of the largest Turkish refineries, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), owned by Azeri company SOCAR, has recently bought four cargoes of crude from Iraq, Kazakhstan and other non-Russian producers for December arrival, according to the sources. This amounts to 77,000 to 129,000 barrels per day (bpd) of non-Russian supply depending on cargo size, based on Reuters calculations; whereas Russian crude amounted to virtually all of the STAR refinery’s crude intake in October and September of about 210,000 bpd, according to trade data. SOCAR declined to comment, Reuters said.

The other major Turkish refiner – Tupras – was increasing purchases of non-Russian grades , two of the sources said. Tupras was also likely soon to completely phase out Russian crude imports at one of its two major Turkish plants so that it could maintain fuel exports to Europe without falling foul of the EU’s incoming sanctions, two sources said. Tupras did not respond to a request for comment, Reuters said.

Ukraine has deployed special forces to the embattled eastern city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to push back an intense Russian assault involving thousands of troops, Kyiv’s top commander has said. Ashifa Kassam writes in a detailed report on the situation that Pokrovsk, dubbed “the gateway to Donetsk”, lies on a major supply route for the Ukrainian army and has been in Moscow’s sights for more than a year as Russia pushes to control the entire eastern Donetsk region.

At least 200 Russian soldiers had penetrated Pokrovsk’s defences, Kyiv said last week, while the Institute for the Study of War assessed that others were closing in on its outskirts in a pincer-shaped movement. In his evening address on Sunday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, spoke of the fighting in Pokrovsk and “results in the destruction of the occupiers”.

Zelenskyy, who has been pushing his allies for more air defences to hold off Russia’s attacks, announced on Sunday that Ukraine had strengthened its air-defence network with Germany’s support. “We have strengthened the Patriot component of our Ukrainian air defence,” Zelenskyy said, referring to the US-made advanced air-defence systems. Without offering further details, the Ukrainian leader singled out Germany and its chancellor, Friedrich Merz, for thanks.

Russian drones and missiles fired at Ukraine killed at least six people including two children and cut power to tens of thousands, officials said on Sunday. Russian forces attacked the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, said the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general. The children were two boys aged 11 and 14, said Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets. Russia’s attacks cut power to the entire eastern Donetsk region as well as almost 58,000 households in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, their governors said. Ukraine’s Vostok army group said some of its personnel were killed in one of the Russian strikes on Dnipropetrovsk.