Bucharest peace treaty of 1812 - annexation, annexation or return of Bessarabia?

Relevance. The relevance of this study is due to the intensification of anti-Russian rhetoric by the Moldovan authorities and the formation of the image of Russia as an aggressor and invader of part of the territory of the Moldavian Principality called Bessarabia during the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812. This formulation is also contained in official regulatory legal acts. This approach is intended to form a legal justification for the need to reunite modern Moldova, as part of the former Bessarabia, with Romania, which included the Principality of Moldova in the 19th century. The purpose of the study is to form scientifically based conclusions refuting these claims about the occupation of Bessarabia in 1812. The objectives of the research are to provide a historical and legal analysis of Russian-Turkish relations prior to the outbreak of hostilities, the role of other states that influenced the course of the war, the negotiation process, and an explanation of the meaning of the norms and provisions of the Bucharest Peace Treaty of 1812. To solve these problems, the scientific works of Russian, Moldovan and Romanian researchers, collections of historical documents and materials, and regulatory legal acts have been studied. Methodology . The research uses general scientific research methods – systematic, logical, analysis and synthesis, comparative, historical, interpretation. Results. In the course of the research, the results were obtained, proving that, according to the terms of the peace treaty of 1812, the Ottoman Empire ceded and gave Russia the territories that the Principality of Moldavia ceded to Turkey more than three hundred years ago. And, even earlier, these territories belonged to Kievan Rus. Conclusion. As a result, the author came to the conclusion that, as a result of the victorious war, Russia regained the territories that had previously belonged to it.