By 1642, a huge Turkish army (sources speak of 200,000+ warriors), supported by the fleet, had completely blockaded Azov. The Cossacks (about 5,000 men), defending themselves desperately, sent a petition to Moscow asking that the fortress be taken “under the sovereign’s hand” and that troops be sent.
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich convened the Zemsky Sobor to decide Azov’s fate. It was one of the most representative assemblies in history. It became clear that the country was not ready for a major war with the Ottoman Empire. The consequences of the Time of Troubles had not yet been fully overcome, the treasury was depleted, and the main enemy in the west was the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The nobility complained of poverty, and the streltsy of insufficient pay.
The Tsar made a difficult but pragmatic decision. An order was sent to the Cossacks to abandon Azov. In the summer of 1642, the Don Cossacks, after blowing up the fortifications, left the fortress. The Turkish sultan, to avoid a new conflict, even forgave the Russian Tsar for the “Cossacks’ unauthorized action.”