Russo - Turkish War ( 1828 – 29 ) The Russo - Turkish War of 1828 – 1829 was sparked by the Greek War of Independence . The war broke out after the Sultan closed the Dardanelles to Russian ships and revoked the Akkerman Convention in retaliation for Russia n participation in the Battle of Navarino . Opening hostilities . At the start of hostilities the Russian army of 92 , 000 men was commanded by Emperor Nicholas I , while the Ottoman forces were commanded by Hussein Pasha . In April and May 1828 the Russian commander - in - chief , Prince Peter Wittgenstein , moved into Romanian Principates Wallachia and Moldavia . In June 1828 , the main Russian forces under the emperor crossed the Danube and advanced into Dobruja . The Russians then laid prolonged sieges to three key Ottoman citadels in modern Bulgaria : Shumla , Varna , and Silistra . With the support of the Black Sea Fleet under Aleksey Greig , Varna was captured on 29 September . The siege of Shumla proved much more problematic , as the 40 , 000 - strong Ottoman garrison outnumbered the Russian forces . Furthermore the Ottomans succeeded in cutting the Russians off from their supply line s . Changing fortunes . As winter approached , the Russian army was forced to leave Shumla and retreat back to Bessarabia . In February 1829 the cautious Wittgenstein was replaced by the more energetic Hans Karl von Diebitsch , and the tsar left the army for St Petersburg . On 7 May , 60 , 000 soldiers led by Field Marshal Diebitsch crossed the Danube and resumed the siege of Silistra . The Sultan sent a 40 , 000 - strong contingent to the relief of Varna , which was annihilated in the Battle of Kulevicha on 30 May . Three weeks later on 19 June , Silistra fell to the Russians . Meanwhile Ivan Paskevich advanced on the Caucasian front defeated the Turks at the Battle of Akhalzic and captured Kars on 23 June and Erzurum , in north - eastern Anatolia on 27 June , the 120th anniversary of the the Poltava . On 2 July Diebitsch launched the Transbalkan offensive , the first in Russian history since the 10th - century campaigns of Svyatoslav I . The contingent of 35 , 000 Russians moved across the mountains , circumventing the besieged Shumla on their way to Constantinople . The Russians captured Burgas ten days later , and the Turkish reinforcement was routed near Sliven on 31 July . By 28 August , the Russians had advanced to within 68 kilometers of Constantinople , reportedly causing panic on the streets of the capital . The Russian army plundered the landscape and engaged in scorched - earth tactics , which lead the an English traveller Sir Adolphus Slade to remark : The Treaty of Adrianople . Faced with losses on all fronts , the Sultan decided sue for peace . The Treaty of Adrianople on 14 September 1829 gave Russia most of the western shore of the Black Sea and the mouth of the Danube . Turkey recognized Russian sovereignty over eastern Georgia and parts of northwest present - day Armenia . Serbia achieved autonomy and Russia was allowed to occupy Moldavia and Wallachia ( guaranteeing their prosperity , and full " liberty of trade " for them ) until Turkey had paid a large indemnity . Moldavia and Wallachia remained under Russian protectorate until the end of Crimean War . Archaic slavery was abolished during this period . The Straits Question was settled four years later , when both powers signed the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi .