With the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War in August 1787, Russian Empress Catherine the Great laid out her plans to incite revolts across Ottoman Greece.

In March, Admiral Samuel Greig and Major-General Ivan Zaborovsky were tasked with signing alliances and facilitating revolts among the Christian populations in Dalmatia, Albania and Greece.

Louitzis Sotiris and Himariot Pano Bixhili begun recruiting soldiers in the area of Epirus, while Antonis Psaros and Lambros Katsonis built a small naval force in Italy.

He also managed to convince the Souliotes to swear an oath of allegiance to Catherine in September in return for patents granting them military ranks in the Russian army.

In May 1788, Ali the newly appointed Pasha of Ioannina received orders to head north to assist the Sublime Porte in its war against the Austrians.

When Ali was informed by Lassalle, the French consul in Preveza, of the upcoming Souliote revolt, he launched a recruitment drive in Ioannina in order to defend the Pashalik of Yanina.

Ali Pasha captured Souliote lands lying beyond mount Tomaros, however he offered them peace on favorable terms to focus his attention on their allies.

A small minority of Souliotes that were not included in the treaty continued their armed struggle, robbing and massacring civilians regardless of their religious affiliation as far as Makrynoros and Pindus.

Realizing that the longevity of their peace with Ali Pasha depended entirely on the outcome of the Russo-Turkish War, the Souliotes dispatched Panos Tziras and Christos Lakkiotis to the Russian court in Saint Petersburg to clear their name.

He bought or seized lands surrounding the Souliote villages and chased bandits and rebellious armatoloi into Venetian held Parga and Lefkada.

He gave 60 pouches of coins to Georgios Botsaris to secure the neutrality of the Souliotes during his conquest of the former Venetian coastal territories which had now passed to the French.