Catherine approves the annexation of Crimea into the Russian Empire on 8 April 1783, consolidating Russian dominance over the northern Black Sea coast.
On 8 April 1783, Catherine II issued the manifesto formally annexing the Crimean Khanate into the Russian Empire. This action followed years of Russian political and military pressure on Crimea since the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774), which had already detached the Khanate from Ottoman suzerainty and established it as a nominally independent buffer state.
Under the direction of Catherine's favorite and close advisor Grigory Potemkin, Russian forces and diplomats engineered the final absorption of Crimea, ending centuries of Crimean Tatar khanate rule that dated back to the breakup of the Golden Horde. The annexation gave Russia complete and secure access to the Black Sea, control of key ports, and the foundation for the future Black Sea Fleet, based in the newly founded city of Sevastopol.
This event marked a major milestone in Catherine's expansionist foreign policy and dramatically extended Russian territorial and strategic reach southward. It provoked tension with the Ottoman Empire, ultimately contributing to renewed conflict later in the 1780s, but cemented Russia's status as a dominant Black Sea power. The annexation of Crimea remains one of the most historically resonant territorial acquisitions of Catherine's reign, with echoes in geopolitical disputes over Crimea that persist into the modern era.