Russia said Sunday that its troops have struck Ukraine's military infrastructure and shot down 483 Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours, while Kiev claimed raids on Russian targets.
Russia's operational-tactical aviation, drones, missile and artillery units hit Ukraine's long-range drone storage depots, energy, transport and port infrastructure related to military operations, the Russian defense ministry said in a press release.
Temporary deployment sites of Ukrainian military formations and foreign mercenaries in 150 places were also hit, it said.
Meanwhile, multiple Russian regions, including areas near Moscow, came under Ukrainian drone attacks, inflicting civilian casualties. Emergency response teams are working at the crash site of the drone wreckage, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Sunday morning.
On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces have struck several "important" facilities in Russia.
Among the targets was an oil facility in the Yaroslavl region in central Russia, which is important for Russia's oil reserves, Zelensky wrote on X.
He said Ukrainian forces also hit the Azot chemical plant in the Tula region, a key explosives production facility in Russia. Ukraine's Air Force reported in the early hours of Monday that several regions faced the threat of Russian missile and drone strikes.
The head of Kyiv's military administration said that as of 5:40 local time, the strikes had killed four people and injured 23 others in the capital. Russia has not yet commented on the reports. Multiple explosions were heard in Kyiv early Monday morning. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said air defenses were working over Kyiv and the surrounding region.
The four districts of Podilskyi, Obolonskyi, Pecherskyi, and Solomianskyi were hit, with several apartment buildings on fire, Klitschko posted on social media. Rescue teams were dispatched to the scene.
Russia raids Ukraine's military infrastructure as Kiev strikes key Russian facilities
Thailand's rural tradition of elephant stewardship is rapidly vanishing as livelihoods change and younger people pursue opportunities elsewhere, threatening centuries of irreplaceable elephant-care knowledge.
For generations, mahouts in the region have passed on their tradition of closely bonding with the elephants they care for. Taweesuk Lapsan is one of a dwindling number of mahouts who diligently carry on the practice.
Long before the sun rises over the fields, he was already at work, gathering bundles of food for an animal that had been part of his family for generations.
"We've had elephants since our grandparents' and great-grandparents' generations. We've been around elephants our whole lives, so we have a strong connection and experience in raising them. That's how we've been able to live with them like this," the mahout said.
Caring for his elephant was not merely a job, but an inherited way of life. Years of daily coexistence forged an intimate bond defined by an intuitive understanding of subtle movements, sounds, and hesitations that take a lifetime to master.
"We live together like this. It's like a family. We're like family; we always go through things together. Until we breathe our last, it just depends on who lives longer," said Taweesuk.
Mahouts and elephants have been woven into parts of Thailand's cultural landscape, from rural livelihoods and traditional practices. However, the tradition has been upended by the collapse of the commercial logging industry and the rapid expansion of tourism.
As fewer young people follow in their families' footsteps, conservationists warned that an intricate system of animal care, refined over centuries, faces gradual extinction.
"When a mahout disappears, they are replaced by people who simply come in to take care of the elephants, essentially, elephant keepers. There are differences in terms of the bond between the keeper and the elephant, the cultural aspects, and the passing down of knowledge and traditions from one generation to the next. So we are concerned about the quality," said Parntep Ratanakorn, Secretary General of the Asian Elephant Foundation of Thailand.
Taweesuk said that his daughters may choose paths far removed from the stables, a decision he fully respects. As the practice fades, experts warn the loss extends far beyond a vanishing cultural heritage, threatening the daily welfare safety nets upon which captive elephants rely.
Thailand's centuries-old elephant care tradition face extinction as livelihoods change
