Russian General Nikolai Evdomikov was dedicated to defeating the Circassians using any tactics he deemed necessary. Convinced the Circassians were a permanent threat, he believed all Circassians must be either killed or expelled. One of Evdomikov's subordinates defended the Russian Army's actions because "no matter what conditions of submission the mountaineers [Circassians] agree to, this submission will continue only as long as the mountaineers wish...even if we occupied the mountains with fortresses and connected them with roads we would always have to keep a huge number of troops at the ready...and there wouldn't be a moment's peace." In agreement with his subordinate, Evdomikov exhibited his intentions by imploring a mapmaker to wait to complete an ethnographic map of the region because he planned to completely change the demographics through forced expulsion or killing. Evdomikov told the mapmaker that if he "wish[ed] to make [the] map of current interest, then rub out the [Circassians]" because he planned to "expel them" by the end of 1863. Evdomikov conducted these movements using brutal methods.