Medvedchuk's yacht at auction, presentation of US nuclear bomber: last night's highlights
Medvedchuk's arrested yacht will be auctioned off for the benefit of Ukraine, the US unveiled a new stealth nuclear bomber, and the SBU completed new inspections in UOC—MP monasteries. Here's what you may have missed from the previous night.
Presentation of US nuclear bomber
The United States unveiled the B-21 Raider strategic bomber, which is capable of carrying nuclear weapons and equipped with stealth camouflage technology. This is the first new American bomber in more than 30 years.
After years of secret development, the aircraft is a response to the Pentagon's growing concerns about the risk of future conflict with China, as well as a possible threat from Russia.
Russia and Wagner PMC are violators of religious freedoms
The United States Department of State has published a new list of countries and organizations that violate religious rights and freedoms. Among them is Russia and its PMC "Wagner". The Wagner Group was designated as an entity of "particular concern" for its actions in the Central African Republic.
Medvedchuk's yacht at auction
The yacht Royal Romance, owned by the MP of the banned political party Opposition Platform Viktor Medvedchuk, will be sold at auction. The money will go to Ukraine, The Guardian writes. The cost of the yacht reaches almost $200 million.
This will be the first such auction since Western governments imposed sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
FM Kuleba suggests who might be behind the "postal terrorism"
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that a series of letters containing explosives or animal parts were intended to terrorize Ukrainian diplomats around the world. In his opinion, either Russia or someone "sympathetic to the Russian cause and trying to sow fear" is responsible for this.
There are already 17 cases when embassies have received bomb letters, fake bomb letters or letters with animal parts, such as cow or pig eyes.
New inspections in monasteries of the UOC-MP
The Security Service has completed inspections in the monasteries of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in Zakarpattya, Rivne and Zhytomyr oblasts. Among other things, they found warehouses with pro-Kremlin literature and Nazi symbols.
New steps "on the way to spiritual independence"
In his evening video address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced new steps "on the path to spiritual independence". He noted that in recent days Ukraine has taken some steps to "guarantee the spiritual independence of our people".
"I see that people support these steps. And they support them very strongly. And this is not all. There will be more steps. Ukraine will never stop halfway again," the President said.
New attacks
In the evening of December 2, the de-occupied Kherson was shelled by the Russian occupiers again, which damaged the power grids. The city was left without electricity again. Repair teams of power engineers are working on restoration.
Also during the day, communities of Sumy Oblast were under fire. Over the day, the occupiers struck the region 76 times from various types of weapons, as a result of which the warehouses of a local enterprise were damaged.