'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Stepan, a famous social media cat, has escaped Ukraine and found refuge in France. His owner Anna, who controls his Instagram account, went silent for nearly two weeks following the invasion. She did not post between March 3 to 16, which led to fans wondering whether she had been attacked.
However, Anna took to the social media platform just two days ago, announcing that she and her cat had made it out safely.
On Wednesday, the plucky tabby’s owner updated fans about the family moving out of their hometown of Kharkiv. The city is the second largest, just 25 miles away from the Russian border. It has been facing relentless bombing since the end of February; however, it has not been captured yet.
Anna narrated that they spent two nights in a basement without any electricity for a week. They managed to leave the city with the help of the city’s volunteers who were taking them to the railway station. They reached Poland via train and received help from the World Influencers and Bloggers Association in Monaco.
The organization helped the family get to France. Anna, her family and Stepan have now rented an apartment in France.
Speaking about the Instagram cat’s plight and the road to safety, Iryna Savchak, a spokesperson of the organization said:
“It was not so easy, on each stage we were in touch with them.”
How did Stepan become famous on social media?
Stepan has amassed over a million followers on Instagram and TikTok. The 13-year-old cat was picked up by Anna when he was just one month old. In late November 2020, videos of Stepan began appearing online. Anna paired the videos with trendy sound clips and became famous on the social media platforms.
One of the viral videos included the famous tabby sitting next to a wine glass as Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” played in the background. The video has amassed over 32.4 million views and nearly eight million likes in the past nine months.
The cat also gained popularity in the States after Britney Spears posted about him. The post has now been deleted, however, it attained over a million likes when uploaded to her account.
