In 1787, the Ottomans demanded that the Russians evacuate the Crimea and give up their holdings near the
Black Sea, which Russia saw as a
casus belli. Russia declared war on 19 August 1787, and the Ottomans imprisoned the Russian ambassador,
Yakov Bulgakov. Ottoman preparations were inadequate and the moment was ill-chosen, as Russia and
Austria were now in alliance. The Ottomans mustered forces throughout their domain, and
Süleyman Bey from
Anatolia went himself to the front at the head of 4000 soldiers. The Ottoman Empire opened their offensive with an attack on two fortresses near
Kinburn, in southern Ukraine. Russian General Alexander Suvorov held off these two Ottoman sea-borne attacks in September and October 1787, thus securing the Crimea. In
Moldavia, Russian troops captured the cities of
Chocim and
Jassy.
Ochakov, at the mouth of the Dnieper, fell on 6 December 1788 after a
six-month siege by Prince
Grigory Potemkin and Suvorov. All civilians in the captured cities were massacred by order of Potemkin. Although suffering a series of defeats against the Russians, the Ottoman Empire found some success against the Austrians, led by Emperor Joseph II, in Serbia and Transylvania. By 1789, the Ottoman Empire was being pressed back in Moldavia by Russian and Austrian forces. To make matters worse, on 1 August the Russians under Suvorov attained a victory against the Ottomans led by Osman Pasha
at Focsani, followed by a Russian victory at
Rymnik (or
Rimnik) on 22 September, and drove them away from near the
Râmnicul Sărat river. Suvorov was given the title Count Rymniksky following the battle. The Ottomans suffered more losses when the Austrians, under General
Ernst Gideon von Laudon repelled an
Ottoman invasion of Croatia, while an Austrian counterattack took
Belgrade. A
Greek revolt, which further drained the Ottoman war effort, brought about a truce between the Ottoman Empire and Austria. Meanwhile, the Russians continued their advance when Suvorov
captured the reportedly "impenetrable" Ottoman fortress of
Izmail at the entrance of the Danube, in December 1790; this became possible also due to
Fyodor Ushakov's
victory at
Tendra. A final Ottoman defeat at
Machin (9 July 1791), coupled with Russian concerns about
Prussia entering the war, led to a truce agreed upon on 31 July 1791. After the capture of the fortress, Suvorov marched upon
Constantinople (present-day
Istanbul), where the Russians hoped they could establish a Christian empire. However, the slaughters that were committed in the ensuing period somewhat defiled Suvorov's reputation in many eyes, and there were allegations at the time that he was drunk at the Siege of Ochakov. Persistent rumors about his actions were spread and circulated, and in 1791 he was relocated to Finland. ==Aftermath==