After the Khanate of Crimea was annexed to Russia in the summer of 1783, the situation on the peninsula remained complicated. An Islamic underground movement supported by Turkey continued its illegal activities. That’s why Anastasia Arzhanova, a secret and highly experienced agent of Empress Catherine II and a specialist in the East, is sent to Crimea as a resident of Russian intelligence.
During the empress’s journey through the southern regions of the Russian Empire in 1787, Arzhanova is tasked with ensuring the safety of the ruler in a restless land that was newly annexed—and she handles the assignment brilliantly. The Second Russian–Turkish War begins. Arzhanova receives a new important mission: to obtain in Istanbul the secret drawings of the fortress of Ochakov, which our army will besiege. Returning to Russia with the drawings in November 1788, the young woman takes part in the famous assault of Ochakov and meets again her former lover—the general-feldmarshal His Excellency Prince Potemkin-Tauride.
The novel is the fourth book in a series about the adventures of the secret agent Anastasia Arzhanova.