MOSCOW (AP) — The director of a factory supplying drones to the Russian military was badly wounded and his driver was killed when the car they were in exploded, news reports said Wednesday.
The state Tass and RIA Novosti agencies said that Vladimir Tkachuk was hospitalized in grave condition following the explosion late Tuesday in Bolshoy Istok just outside Yekaterinburg, 1,400 kilometers (about 870 miles) east of Moscow.
There was no immediate comment from the authorities.
Tkachuk headed the Uraldronzavod factory that manufactures Upyr (Russian for Ghoul) drones. Tkachuk, a small-scale entrepreneur, set up a team of engineers that developed the Upyr and organized its production near Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city and a key industrial hub in the Ural Mountains
The Upyr, a cheap and simple first-person view drone, was hailed by troops for the protection it offers against jamming. In September 2024, Tkachuk was pictured presenting his designs to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a display of military drones in St. Petersburg.
Tkachuk, an ardent supporter of the Kremlin's military action in Ukraine, also has run the Obsessed with War channel that has over 650,000 followers on the Telegram messaging app. A message posted on the channel Wednesday said that he was in emergency care in stable condition after an attempt on his life.
Kommersant said that a week ago, the head of another maker of drones for the Russian military, Andrei Cherezov, was shot and wounded in the city of Tula.
Russian authorities have blamed Kyiv for a series of bombings and other attacks against senior military officials and public figures after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
The explosion followed Saturday's deadly bombing at an upscale Moscow restaurant, which the Russian Embassy in Rome blamed on Ukraine, describing it as an attempt to intimidate the Italian community in Russia. It said in a statement Monday that the attack on the Balzi Rossi restaurant killed five and injured 19.
The Russian Foreign Ministry reposted the embassy statement without comment, and Russia's security agencies haven't named the suspected culprits. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has described the bombing as a “brutal terrorist act,” but did not say who was responsible.
Several Russian media outlets claimed the bombing targeted a Russian general who was celebrating his birthday at the restaurant. Some claimed that the general was Col.-Gen. Alexander Chaiko, who led the troops that made a botched attempt to storm the Ukrainian capital in 2022 and recently was appointed the chief of Russia’s aerospace forces. The claims could not be independently verified.
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, speaks with Vladimir Tkachuk, front, the head of the Uraldronzavod, during his visit to the Special Technology Centre in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Valeriy Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks with Vladimir Tkachuk, the head of the Uraldronzavod, during his visit to the Special Technology Centre in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Valeriy Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose in morning trading on Wall Street Wednesday and added to their records set a day earlier, while oil prices held steady.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 584 points, or 1.1%, as of 10:45 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%.
The S&P 500 and the Dow both set records on Tuesday, while the Nasdaq is less than 2% from its record. Every major index has been surging this week, giving August a strong start.
The market is leaping as companies head into the closing stretch of their latest round of earnings reports with sharp overall gains. Three-quarters of the companies within the S&P 500 have reported results so far, and Wall Street expects profit growth of 50% when they are all finished.
The Walt Disney Co. rose 3% after easily beating Wall Street’s profit forecasts, helped by a $1 billion box office haul from “Toy Story 5” and theme park revenue.
Booking Holdings jumped 6.6% after reporting that strong travel demand drove profit and revenue growth during its most recent quarter.
SpaceX fell 8.8%, despite reporting a smaller loss than Wall Street expected late Tuesday in its first quarterly report as a public company. The company did help give semiconductor giant Nvidia a 3.7% boost after announcing it would exclusively use that company’s chips for its artificial intelligence technology.
Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury remained at 4.63% from late Tuesday.
Markets in Asia rose. Benchmarks jumped more than 3% in Tokyo and Seoul as computer chipmakers and other AI-related companies climbed. European markets also gained ground.
Strong corporate profits and expectations for more growth ahead have been steering stocks higher. Wall Street has also been worried about stock prices becoming unjustifiably high, especially within the technology sector and for companies focused on artificial intelligence. Profit growth, especially for some of the big chipmakers, like Nvidia, could help justify some of the big investments those companies are making in AI.
AI-focused companies have been behind many of the big market swings and most of Wall Street's gains. That remained the case on Wednesday, with Nvidia leading the market higher. Micron Technology rose 1.8% to help support the gains.
Uncertainty about the direction of the U.S. war with Iran continues hanging over the market. President Donald Trump said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could come as early as Wednesday. But there have been many stops and starts during the five-month old conflict that has stifled the global supply of oil and rattled energy markets.
The price of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.6% to $78.81 a barrel. Oil prices have been swinging for months and were as high as $102 per barrel at one point during the conflict, jolting already stubbornly high inflation. Higher oil prices pushed gasoline prices higher and increased shipping costs for a wide range of products.
Inflation concerns have been hanging over markets and the Federal Reserve. The central bank has been holding its key benchmark rate steady as it monitors the costs and the impact on the economy. Wall Street expects the central bank to raise rates at least once before the end of 2026. Household spending remains resilient, despite the stress from higher costs on everything from gas to groceries.
The jobs market has been one of the stronger areas of the economy, though growth has been slowing. Wall Street will get another update on Friday with the monthly employment report for July.
Associated Press writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.
Specialist Dilip Patel works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, July 30, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader passes by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics Co. stock price at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) 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, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders pass by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
