Stepan has more than one million followers on Tik Tok and Instagram. The 13-year-old cat stars in videos where his fans adore such photo shots of the tabby leaning against a counter with a drink while colored lights flash in the background, hinting to viewers the revered kitty might have been hanging out for the evening at a nearby nightclub.
Now what makes Stepan such an influencer? Let’s start with his name which in Ukrainian means his life, and the life of his favorite human who goes by the name of Anna. Sadly, their lives have been tumultuous since the unprovoked Russian invasion on February 24. For the last two weeks, we haven’t heard from Stepan, and his fans and followers have been so very worried.
Just yesterday, Stepan resurfaced on Instagram detailing his and Anna’s escape from their beloved home and to the safety of France.
On February 24, early in the morning, we were sleeping at home. 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.
Instagram
And Stepan continued:
On the first day of the war were the most severe destructions. Shells hit the neighboring houses every day; the houses burned before our eyes. By some miracle, our house remained safe exactly for a week. Our house was also damaged on the eighth day as a shell flew into the neighbors’ balcony. There was no fire. Thank God! In two or three dozen apartments, all the windows spilled out. Also, two shells fell in our yard in front of the house.
Instagram
The two spent the next few nights hiding in the basement, There was no electricity and they went to a nearby home to charge their phone. When they were able to leave the city, Kharkiv volunteers helped to get the two to a railway station where they boarded the train to Kharkiv -Lviv. Twenty hours later they arrived and followed the border to Poland. Once there, they waited with more than 5,000 other people and after nine hours of waiting were able to cross the border.
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. 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.
Instagram
If you’re wondering how this kitty became so famous and an “influencer,” it was Britney Spears who had reposted one of his videos and had described Stepan as having had been adopted from the street as a kitten. The adorable feline even did a photoshoot sporting a Valentino purse valued at $2,800. Other than that, it’s been marketing and lots of luck.
“If I go quiet from time to time, you can catch me with this cat somewhere.”
Britney Spears
And it’s not as if Stepan has been the only pet carried across the borders to safety. Nearly every day we have been reading heartwarming rescues of pets clutched in their owners’ arms and through the most harrowing circumstances carrying their beloved pets to safety.
Stephan has received more than 14.000 comments wishing him and Anna and of course the Ukrainian people safety during their travels. More than three million refugees have streamed out of the country in the past two weeks.
Follow Stepan on Instagram. You can also check him out on Tik Tok.
Follow the National Pet Rescue on Facebook for the latest animal related news.
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