Crimean campaigns (1687–1689)

Crimean campaigns (1687–1689)
Part of the Russo-Turkish War (1686–1700)

An artist's impression of Russian troops returning from their failed Crimean campaign.
Date1687 and 1689
Location
Result
  • Ottoman–Crimean Khanate
victory
  • End of the alliance between the Crimean Khanate, France and Imre Thököly
Territorial
changes
  • Crimean Khanate retained independence
  • Ottoman expansion in Europe halted
Belligerents

Ottoman Empire

Tsardom of Russia

Commanders and leaders
Selim I Giray
Suleiman II
1st campaign:
Vasily Golitsyn
Ivan Samoilovich
2nd campaign:
Vasily Golitsyn
V. D. Dolgorukov (Dolgoruky)
M. G. Romodanovsky
Ivan Mazepa
Strength
30,000–40,000 1687: 91,038 men
1689: 117,532 men
Casualties and losses
Unknown 1687: 20,000 – 30,000 dead, wounded, missing or sick
1689: 35,000 died (during the retreat)

The Crimean campaigns (1687–1689) (Russian: Крымские походы, Krymskiye pokhody) were two military campaigns of the Tsardom of Russia against the Crimean Khanate. They were a part of the Russo-Turkish War (1686–1700) and Russo-Crimean Wars. These were the first Russian forces to come close to Crimea since 1569. They failed due to poor planning and the practical problem of moving such a large force across the steppe but nonetheless played a key role in halting the Ottoman expansion in Europe. The campaigns came as a surprise for the Ottoman leadership, spoiled its plans to invade Poland and Hungary and forced it to move significant forces from Europe to the east, which greatly helped the League in its struggle against the Ottomans.

Having signed the Eternal Peace Treaty with Poland in 1686, Russia became a member of the anti-Turkish coalition ("Holy League" — Austria, the Republic of Venice and Poland), which was pushing the Turks south after their failure at Vienna in 1683 (the major result of this war was the conquest by Austria of most of Hungary from Turkish rule). Russia's role in 1687 was to send a force south to Perekop to bottle up the Crimeans inside their peninsula.