In 1677, the Turkish sultan proclaimed Yuri Khmelnytsky a successor to Doroshenko, and invaded the right bank and laid siege to its capital, Chyhyryn. Although Samoylovych and Romodanovsky were generally successful in their operations against the Turks, the Russian army unexpectedly withdrew to the left bank on behest of the Tsar Alexis. By that time, the Russian government decided to de-populate the right bank altogether and to resettle its Cossacks in the areas controlled by Samoylovych. His son Semion was put in charge of these policies, known as "zgon".