Ukrainian cat Stepan reveals on Instagram that he and his human escaped after bombing: ‘We’re all right now’
The account for Ukrainian cat influencer Stepan has shared an update following the bombing of Kharkiv during Russia’s invasion.
On Wednesday, Mar. 16, Stepan’s Instagram account — which boasts more than 1 million followers — shared photos of the cat, along with a harrowing caption about the current conflict.
“On February 24, early in the morning, we were sleeping at home,” the post began. “At 5 am, some explosion was heard, and I didn't even understand what it was. After a while, after half an hour later, there were more explosions, the windows trembled. I jumped up and understood that something terrible was happening! The attack and shelling of Kharkiv (especially on the North Saltovka where we live). We realized that the war had come to our house.”
The post, from Stepan’s owner who is thought to be named Anna, explained how shells hit their neighbors's homes and that while they witnessed many houses burn down, their home stayed safe for a week before it was damaged after a shell hit another home's balcony.
The account described hiding in the basement for two days and spending a week without electricity before they were able to leave the city.
“Kharkiv volunteers helped by taking us to the railway station. We got on the train Kharkiv - Lviv (in 20 hours, we got to Lviv). Then we followed to the border with Poland. At the border, we stood in a line in a pedestrian crossing. There were a lot of people (4-5 thousand). After 9 hours, we crossed the border,” the post continued. “When we reached Poland, we were offered help from the World Influencers and Bloggers Association from Monaco. They helped us get to France to wait for the very day when we could return home.”
The caption concluded, “We're all right now. We worry very much about our relatives in Ukraine and will do the very best we can to help our country.”
According to The Washington Post, The World Influencers and Bloggers Association is a global organization which unites influencers around the world. It named Stepan one of its top pet influencers. Maria Grazhina Chaplin, the association’s CEO and founder, learned of Stepan and Anna's struggles in Ukraine and organized a way to help them out of the country. Now, the organization is taking care of them in France.
Stepan's post is a huge relief for fans of the cat, who had not seen an update from the animal influencer since March 3, a week after Russia first invaded Ukraine.
Stepan, who Anna rescued as a one month old kitten and is now 13, per The Kyiv Independent, first skyrocketed to internet fame in 2019, when a TikTok set to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" featuring him with a glass of wine received more than 27 million views.
Now, he continues to boast a large following on TikTok, where Stepan participates in many viral trends. He even caught the attention of Britney Spears, who posted a pic of Stepan to her since-deleted Instagram account with the caption, “If I go quiet from time to time, you can catch me with this cat somewhere.”
Last December, Stepan officially went mainstream after he appeared in a Valentino ad with a $2,800 purse from the Italian designer.
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