Suvorov led the Siege of Izmail in Bessarabia on 22 December 1790. His capture of the reputedly unconquerable fortress played a vital role in Russia's victory in the war. Turkish forces inside the fortress had the orders to stand their ground to the end and haughtily declined the Russian ultimatum. Their defeat was seen as a major catastrophe in the Ottoman empire. An unofficial Russian national anthem in the late 18th and early 19th centuries "Grom pobedy, razdavaysya!" ("Let the thunder of victory sound!") commemorates Suvorov's victory and 24 December is today commemorated as a Day of Military Honour in Russia. Suvorov announced the capture of Ismail in 1791 to the Empress Catherine in a doggerel couplet.