Vasili Stepanovich Popov was an imperial Russian

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 general and statesman who presided over the office of Prince Potemkin.

In 1792 Popov advised Empress Catherine II of Russia

Catherine II of Russia

Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...

 on Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 affairs. It was he who authored the Targowicka Confederation founding act. Emperor Paul made him senator.
Popov had large estates in the Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, where the town of Vasylivka

Vasylivka

Vasylivka is a city in Zaporizhia Oblast in southern Ukraine. The city is situated on the banks of the Kakhovka Reservoir on the Dnieper River. Population is 15,592 ....

 bears his name. It was his grandson who built Popov Castle

Popov Castle

The Popov Castle is a castle-like rural residence built between 1864 and 1884 near the town of Vasylivka, Ukraine by Vasili Popov Jr. . Its Gothic Revival design is attributed to Nicholas Benois. The main house had a telescope, a picture gallery, and an ethnographic museum...

there.