Russian drones kill 3 and wound children in Ukraine as Zelenskyy urges speedier diplomacy

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A heavy Russian drone bombardment of Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa killed at least three people and wounded 23, including two children and a pregnant woman, officials said Tuesday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for speedier U.S. efforts to end Russia's almost 4-year-old invasion of his country.

The Odesa attack involved more than 50 drones, some of them models recently upgraded by Russia to improve their range and strike power, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The drones targeted the power grid, which Russia has repeatedly bombarded during the coldest winter in years, and also hit five apartment blocks, officials said. Emergency crews retrieved the bodies of two men, aged 90 and 52, and a woman from the rubble, authorities said.

“The rescue operation will continue until the fate of all people who may be under the rubble is clarified,” Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that an informal Protestant place of worship was also damaged.

“Each such Russian strike undermines diplomacy, which is still ongoing, and hits, in particular, the efforts of partners who are helping to end this war,” he said.

A diplomatic push by the Trump administration to end the war has made progress, according to officials, but has delivered no breakthrough on the key issue of what happens to Russian-occupied Ukrainian land and other territory that Moscow is demanding.

Analysts says that Russian President Vladimir Putin is in no rush to find a settlement, despite his army’s difficulties on the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line. He believes that time is on his side, that Western support for Kyiv will fade and that Ukraine’s resistance will eventually break under pressure, according to analysts.

To replenish its forces and keep up the pressure on Kyiv, Moscow is offering cash bonuses, freeing convicts from prison and luring foreigners to its army.

An Associated Press investigation found that unwitting Bangladeshi workers were enticed to Russia under the false promise of civilian work before being thrown into combat in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said late Monday the next round of talks with the United States and Russia is penciled in for Feb. 1. but that “it would be good if this meeting could be accelerated.”

He also urged that, in the meantime, additional sanctions be imposed on Russia to compel the Kremlin to make compromises.

Russia fired 165 drones at Ukraine overnight, with 24 of them that got through air defenses hitting targets in seven regions, according to Ukraine’s air force.

In recent weeks, the relentless barrages have damaged some of Ukraine’s protected world heritage sites in Odesa, the western city of Lviv and the capital, Kyiv, UNESCO said Tuesday.

They have also knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of civilians. More than 900 apartment blocks remained without heating Tuesday in several districts of Kyiv, Zelenskyy said. Kyiv, a city of about 3 million people, is dominated by tower blocks, many from the Soviet era.

Russia has been improving its drone technology and tactics, striking Ukraine with increasing success.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s main intelligence directorate said earlier this month that Russia had deployed the new jet-powered “Geran-5” strike drone against Ukraine for the first time. The Geran is a Russian variant of the Iranian-designed Shahed.

According to the directorate, the drone can carry a 90-kilogram (200-pound) warhead and has a range of nearly 1,000 kilometers (600 miles).

In response, Ukraine has significantly expanded production of interceptor drones, as well as developing its own long-range drones.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that its air defenses shot down 19 Ukrainian drones overnight over several Russian regions.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Broken window glass is seen in an apartment following a Russian air attack in the city center in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building which was heavily damaged after a Russian strike in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building which was heavily damaged after a Russian strike in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building which was heavily damaged after a Russian strike in Odesa, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are zigzagging on Wall Street Tuesday following a rush of mixed profit reports from UnitedHealthcare, General Motors and other big companies, and the crosscurrents are keeping overall indexes in check.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and pulled closer to its all-time high set a couple weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 365 points, or 0.7%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.

UnitedHealthcare Group tumbled nearly 19% even though it reported a profit for the latest quarter that was a bit better than analysts expected. More attention was on the company’s forecast for revenue in the upcoming year, which fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.

It and other health care companies also felt pressure from a projected rate increase for Medicare Advantage by the U.S. government that disappointed investors. UnitedHealthcare is the nation’s largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, which are privately run versions of the federal government coverage program. Insurers have struggled to maintain Medicare Advantage profit margins due to funding cuts and rising care use and costs.

Humana fell 18.7%, Elevance Health dropped 10.8% and CVS Health sank 8.9%.

Helping to keep the market in check was Corning, which climbed 8.9% after announcing a deal with Meta Platforms that's worth up to $6 billion. Corning will supply optical fiber and cable to help build out data centers for Meta, enough that Corning is expanding its optical-fiber manufacturing facility in Hickory, North Carolina.

Also supporting the U.S. stock market were gains for General Motors, which rose 5.2%, and RTX, which gained 2%. Both delivered profits for the end of 2025 that topped Wall Street’s expectations.

The pressure is on companies to deliver strong growth in profits following the record-setting runs for their stock prices. Stock prices tend to follow corporate profits over the long term, and earnings need to rise to quiet criticism that stock prices have grown too expensive.

Several of Wall Street’s most influential stocks will deliver their latest earnings reports later this week. That includes Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla on Wednesday and Apple on Thursday.

Another way stock prices can look less expensive is if interest rates fall. The Federal Reserve will announce its next move on interest rates Wednesday, but the widespread expectation is that it will hold its main interest rate steady for now.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady ahead of the decision. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 4.22%, where it was late Monday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

India’s Sensex index added 0.4% after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country had reached agreement on a free trade deal with the European Union.

The accord, which touches 2 billion people, was concluded after nearly two decades of negotiations. It’s one of the biggest bilateral engagements on commerce. The timing comes as Washington targets both India and the EU with steep import tariffs.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Specialist Meric Greenbaum works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Michael Pistillo works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Currency traders pass by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)