Insta-Famous Cat Stepan Flees Home In Ukraine With Family To France

Fans and followers of the popular ‘petfluencer’ Stepan The Cat were scared and worried when his Instagram page went inactive for a few weeks. For those who are not familiar with this famous internet feline sensation, this 13-year-old fluffball from Ukraine rose to fame when a TikTok video of him went viral. The video shows him in a pensive mood, with one arm on a table, seems to be questioning life with a glass of wine. His relatable ‘home-alone party’ mood resonated with so many people who were stuck in lockdowns and quarantines. He instantly became a favorite subject for memes and quickly raked in thousands of followers on TikTok and Instagram.

With over one million followers on Instagram, his owner Anna makes sure to keep them all updated with his recent pics and videos on a regular basis. But when the page stopped posting updates since the 3rd of March, his fans couldn’t help but assume the worst. Stepan lives with his human family in Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine. When Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Kharkiv was one of the first cities that woke up to war on that fateful morning.

Stepan The Cat Lives With His Human Family In Kharkiv, Ukraine

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Kharkiv was heavily bombed and shelled by Russian forces which took hundreds of lives and destroyed hundreds of buildings. Followers of Stepan knew he was in Kharkiv as the city continues to be under relentless Russian bombardment. Anna posted an update on March 3 with a photo of Stepan and some videos of nearby buildings on fire. They waited for more updates on his page but nothing has been posted since the last post and his fans were worried sick. Two weeks later, Anna posted an update documenting what they went through in the last couple of weeks. The full story is as follows:

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People were relieved by the news that Stepan is safe and that he and his family were able to escape from the devastating war. The Monaco-based World Influencers and Bloggers Association is currently taking care of them and providing everything they need until they can safely return home in Kharkiv. The organization is collaborating with a few charity organizations in raising funds to aid the refugees in meeting their basic needs while they’re in France. The fundraiser hasn’t been announced but there have been a few fake accounts claiming to be Stepan asking for donations.

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Anna recently took to Instagram to explain that they’re not asking for donations as of this moment. She informed everyone not to send any money to whoever is using Stepan’s name and asked everyone to keep updated as she will announce the fundraiser soon. As to the cat’s current condition, Anna ensured that he is fine although he lost some weight because he hasn’t been able to sleep well since the war broke out. But nonetheless, people were just happy to know that their beloved feline is safe. And hopefully, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict would be over soon so everyone who were displaced by war could return to their homes.