Zelenskyy Urges Speedier Diplomacy     01/27 06:01

   A heavy Russian drone bombardment of Ukraine's southern city of Odesa killed 
at least one person and injured 23, including two children and a pregnant 
woman, officials said Tuesday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called 
for faster U.S. efforts to end Russia's almost 4-year-old invasion of his 
country.

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- A heavy Russian drone bombardment of Ukraine's 
southern city of Odesa killed at least one person and injured 23, including two 
children and a pregnant woman, officials said Tuesday as Ukrainian President 
Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for faster 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 body of a man from the rubble, 
according to Oleh Kiper, head of the regional military administration.

   "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, the 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 of Kyiv, UNESCO said Tuesday.

   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.