Grigory Potemkin in the context of "Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)"

The Russian Empire formally annexed the Crimean Khanate on 19 April [O.S. 8 April] 1783, following a decade-long campaign of intervention in the Crimean Peninsula. Russia aimed to control the Black Sea and end raids by Crimean slavers into its territory. To accomplish this, the Russians waged a series of wars against the Ottoman Empire and its Crimean vassal state, culminating in victory in the 1768–1774 Russo-Turkish War. The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, signed in 1774, granted the Crimean Khanate nominal independence from the Ottomans under Russian influence. In subsequent years, Russia would intervene widely in Crimean affairs, provoking a series of revolts by the Crimean Tatars, while the Ottomans watched in ambivalence. Crimea was finally annexed by Russia on 19 April 1783, after Russian imperial advisor Prince Grigory Potemkin encouraged Empress Catherine the Great to dissolve the khanate and formally claim its territory. The annexation ended the centuries-long Crimean slave trade. Under Russian administration, the former khanate was subjected to a long-term policy of de-Tatarisation. Tatar property was confiscated, and Russians were encouraged to settle in the region, sparking waves of Tatar emigration.

Catherine II (born Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica, Russian: Екатерина Алексеевна Романова; 2 May 1729 – 17 November [O.S. 6 November] 1796), commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after a coup d'etat against her husband, Peter III. Her long reign helped Russia thrive under a golden age under the Enlightenment. This renaissance led to the founding of many new cities, universities, and theatres, along with large-scale immigration from the rest of Europe and the recognition of Russia as one of the great powers of Europe.

After overthrowing and possibly assassinating her husband and her subsequent rule of the Russian Empire, Catherine often relied on noble favourites such as Count Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Assisted by highly successful generals such as Alexander Suvorov and Pyotr Rumyantsev and admirals such as Samuel Greig and Fyodor Ushakov, she governed at a time when the Russian Empire was expanding rapidly by conquest and diplomacy. In the west, she installed her former lover to the throne of Poland, which was eventually partitioned. In the south, the Crimean Khanate was annexed following victories over the Bar Confederation and the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War. With the support of Great Britain, Russia colonised the territories of New Russia along the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. In the east, Russians became the first Europeans to colonise Alaska, establishing Russian America.

The Black Sea Fleet (Russian: Черноморский флот, romanized: Chernomorskiy flot) is the fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimean Peninsula, are subordinate to the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. The fleet traces its history to its founding by Prince Potemkin on 13 May 1783 as part of the Imperial Russian Navy. The Russian SFSR inherited the fleet in 1918; with the founding of the Soviet Union in 1922, it became part of the Soviet Navy. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Black Sea Fleet was partitioned between the Russian Federation and Ukraine in 1997, with Russia receiving title to 82% of the vessels.

The Black Sea Fleet has its official primary headquarters and facilities at the Sevastopol Naval Base, Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The rest of the fleet's facilities are based in locations on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, including Krasnodar Krai, Rostov Oblast and Crimea.

The siege of Ochakov (Russian: осада Очакова) or the siege of Özi (Turkish: Özi Kuşatması), now Ochakiv, Ukraine, was one of the major events of the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792). The Ochakov Fortress had the appearance of an irregular quadrangle, consisting of low bastions with a dry moat and glacis on the dry side, and a simple stone wall on the sea side. In addition, 10 advanced lunettes built later extended from the dry side. From the sea, fort Hasan Paşa reinforced the defense. By the time the Russians began the siege, the fortress was a strong fence, but was not able to withstand an active, energetic storming for long. Ochakov was not what it was in the old days, under Münnich in 1737, but it still did not represent an impregnable stronghold that required enormous preparations and expenditure of time. Besieging in summer and autumn, with the arrival of winter, the supreme commander Potemkin decided to stop the siege works and begin the storming of Ochakov (Russian: штурм Очакова) on 17 December [O.S. 6 December] 1788, which ended in Russian success and capture of Hüseyin Pasha, the chief of garrison.

In 1788, Russian forces led by the commander in chief Prince Grigory Potemkin, General Alexander Suvorov, who was called here from near Kinburn Spit with his Phanagorian Regiment and commanded the left wing (until injury and replacement), Prince Nikolai Repnin (the center) and Ivan Möller (the right wing) besieged the city, held by Ottoman troops massively assisted at sea by Hasan Pasha, whose knowledge exceeded the Turkish military level of that time, and commanded by Hüseyin Pasha. Despite Suvorov's urging to storm the city immediately, Potemkin had the Russian forces encircle Ochakov (Özi), bombarding the city and cutting off the defenders' supply of food and ammunition. By keeping his soldiers out of direct battle, Potemkin strove to minimize Russian combat-casualties, though he was accused by his generals, including Suvorov, of cowardice, and the Turks organized several sorties from the fortress and in everyway interfered with the siege at sea. The argument within the Russian headquarters about storming Ochakov continued during the entirety of the siege. The rowing flotilla was commanded by Prince Karl (Charles) Nassau-Siegen, the sailing fleet by Paul Jones, a fighter for American independence; the latter stood in subordination of the first. There was no great agreement between them. Nassau and Jones were subordinate to Potemkin.