New Delhi, June 27 -- 00 on Friday, hours after Ukraine launched what Moscow described as the largest drone barrage of the war: 660 unmanned aircraft sent simultaneously across thirteen regions overnight.

The emergency declaration put 2.4 million people in Crimea under formal crisis status, extending electricity restrictions that had already plagued Sevastopol for days. Repair crews had stopped working on the power grid each time air raid alerts forced them to shelter; by Friday morning the outages were severe enough to warrant official action. Aksyonov said the decision was taken to enable a coordinated emergency response.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defense forces intercepted all 660 drones. The barrage targeted thirteen re...