 The two principalities, owing tribute and progressively ceding political control to the Ottoman Empire since the Middle Ages, had been subject to frequent Russian interventions as early as the Russo-Turkish War (1710–1711), when a Russian army penetrated Moldavia and Emperor Peter the Great probably established links with the Wallachians.Eventually, the Ottomans enforced a tighter control on the region, effected under Phanariote "hospodars" (who were appointed directly by the Porte).Ottoman rule over the region remained contested by competition from Russia, which, as an Eastern Orthodox empire with claim to a Byzantine heritage, exercised notable influence over locals.