Georgios Papazolis, a Greek officer of the Russian army, was a friend of the Orlovs and had them convince Catherine the Great to send an army to Mani and liberate Greece. A Russian fleet of five ships and 500 soldiers under the command of Aleksey Grigoryevich Orlov sailed from the Baltic Sea in 1769 and reached Mani in 1770. The fleet landed at Oitylo, where it was met by the Maniots. It was decided to divide the army into two groups, the "Western Legion" and the "Eastern Legion". The Eastern Legion, under the command of Barkof, Grigorakis, and Psaros, consisted of 500 Maniots and 6 Russians. The Western Legion, under the command of John Mavromichalis (nicknamed "The Dog"), Piotr Dolgorukov, and Panagiotis Koumoundouros, consisted of 200 Maniots and 12 Russians.