Battle of Geok Tepe The Siege of Geok Tepe or The Battle of Geok Tepe was a siege by the Imperial Russian army against the Turkmen fort of Geok Tepe in 1880 – 1881 . History . In 1853 – 1868 the Russians moved south and occupied most of what was later called Russian Central Asia . The area they did not yet have was approximately modern Turkmenistan . In 1869 they built Krasnovodsk on the east side of the Caspian sea . In 1879 they moved east and tried to take Geok Tepe . They first used artillery and then tried to take the fort by storm . The more numerous Turkomans drove them back . The Russians retreated and had difficulty holding off their pursuers . They retreated back across the desert toward Krasnovodsk . It is said that this was the worst Russian defeat in Central Asia since 1717 . After the unsuccessful first Battle of Geok Tepe 1879 . The Russians sent a second expedition this time with more men and equipment , including 20 , 000 camels for transport . In December 1880 , Geok Tepe was besieged by 7 , 100 Russians under General Mikhail Skobelev against 25 , 000 defenders . Including the civilian Turkmen population of the area . Learning a lesson from the previous expedition , Skolobev decided to besiege the fort instead of a direct assault . The siege of Geok Tepe lasted twenty - three days , after which the city was taken by storm . Although they encountered heavy resistance , Russian forces were eventually able to break in by digging a tunnel underneath a portion of the wall , then detonating a mine underneath the wall . On 12 ( 24 ) January 1881 , the mine was detonated . Once the fortress was breached , the Russian troops stormed in . Several hundred defenders were killed in the initial explosion , and many more were killed in the fighting that ensued . As the Russians poured in the fort , the defenders , along with the civilians inside the fortress , fled across the desert , pursued by General Skobelev ' s cavalry . The massacre . Around 8 , 000 Turkmen soldiers and civilians , including women and children were killed in their flight , along with an additional 6 , 500 that were killed inside the fortress . The Russians killed all Turkmen males in the fortress who had not escaped , but they spared some 5 , 000 women and children and freed 600 Persian slaves . The taking of Geok Tepe and the following slaughter broke the Turkmen resistance and decided the fate of Transcaspia . On 6 May 1881 , Transcaspia was declared an oblast of the Russian Empire . During the entire campaign of 1880 – 1881 Russian casualties were 290 killed and 883 wounded , sickness accounted for the death of 645 Russian soldiers . The Russian general Skobelev said the following about the massacre : Aftermath . Skobelev was removed from his command because of the massacre . In 1881 Ashgabat was founded 28 miles southeast of Geok Tepe . The next Russian move as east to Merv in 1884 and in 1885 south from Merv to Pandjeh on the Afghan border . Commemorations . The Geok Tepe ( Gokdepe Mosque ) was built to commemorate the siege and the defenders , it is noted for its mint - turquoise blue coloured roof and white marble structure . The battle is remembered as a national day of mourning each year , and the resistance is often cited as a source of great national pride .