The source study significance of Russian literary responses into the territorial divisions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the end of the 18th century
The article substantiates the expediency of expanding the traditional range of historical sources in the process of studying the factors that contribute to the formation of public opinion under the influence of official ideological attitudes. An overview of the operational responses of Russian contemporaries to the territorial divisions of the Commonwealth during the reign of Empress Catherine II is given and the close relationship of the position expressed by their authors with the dominant imperial doctrine is shown.