The
Targowica Confederation (, , ) was a
confederation established by
Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in
Saint Petersburg, with the backing of the Russian Empress
Catherine II. The confederation opposed the
Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791, which had been adopted by the
Great Sejm, especially the provisions limiting the privileges of the nobility. The text of the founding act of the confederation was written by the Russian general
Vasili Stepanovich Popov, Chief of Staff of Prince
Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin. Its purpose was proclaimed in the small town of Targowica (now in
Kirovohrad Oblast,
Ukraine) on May 14, 1792. Four days later two Russian armies invaded the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth without a formal
declaration of war.