Stepan, a beloved 13-year-old Ukrainian cat with over a million Instagram followers, managed to escape his war-torn country and found refuge in France with his owner after a harrowing trip to Poland.
The world-famous feline from the bombed-out city of Kharkiv worried a legion of his fans when his @loveyoustepan account was shut down for nearly two weeks, according to the Washington Post.
But on Wednesday, Anna, the owner of the brave tabby cat, revealed how they got to safety.
“On February 24, early in the morning, we slept at home. At 5 in the morning there was some kind of explosion, and I didn’t even understand what it was, ”Anna wrote.
“Some time later, half an hour later, the explosions were repeated, the windows shook. I jumped up and realized that something terrible was happening!” she wrote.
Stepan, a Ukrainian cat with over 1 million followers on Instagram, has managed to escape the war that is ravaging his country. Instagram/@loveyoustepan
Thirteen-year-old Stepan, after a painful trip, managed to move to France to his master. Instagram/@loveyoustepan
Map of Russian attacks in Ukraine as of Friday, March 18, 2022
“The attack and shelling of Kharkov (especially on Severnaya Saltovka, where we live). We realized that the war had come to our house.”
Then Anna told how they spent a week without electricity before they managed to leave the city – with the help of volunteers who took them to the station.
“We boarded the Kharkov-Lvov train (we got to Lvov in 20 hours). Then we proceeded to the border with Poland, ”she wrote in a post that included photos of Stepan during a dangerous journey.
Stepan’s owner Anna said she realized she had to run after the Russians started bombing their home in Kharkiv. Instagram/@loveyoustepan
Anna said that they lived in their house for a week without electricity. Instagram/@loveyoustepan
“At the border, we stood in line at the pedestrian crossing. There were a lot of people (4-5 thousand). After 9 hours we crossed the border. When we got to Poland, we were offered help by the World Association of Influencers and Bloggers from Monaco,” she said.
The group helped Anna and Stepan get to France, where they are waiting until they can return home safely.
“Now we are all right. We are very worried about our relatives in Ukraine and will do everything possible to help our country,” she added.
The World Association of Influencers and Bloggers, which helped Stepan and Anna move to France, named Stepan one of the best pet influencers in the world. Instagram/@loveyoustepan
Stepan’s followers became worried after his Instagram account was closed for two weeks. Instagram/@loveyoustepan
The World Association of Influencers and Bloggers, which aims to bring together influencers from all over the world, named Stepan last year one of the world’s top “domestic influencers” according to the Washington Post.
When the founder and CEO of the group, Maria Grazhyna Chaplin, learned of Stepan and Anna’s plight, she stepped into action and arranged a way to get them to a safe house in France after a stopover in Poland.
“It was not so easy, at every stage we were in touch with them,” Irina Savchak, the group’s press secretary, told the newspaper. “Now we personally take care of them in France.”
When it became known that Stepan and Anna were safe, his fans, including celebrities such as Britney Spears, actress Diane Kruger and model Hailey Bieber, were delighted.
“My beloved cat, who I followed on Instagram in Kharkiv, made it to safety in France as a refugee… after his area was horribly shelled by Russian forces, including even his own apartment building,” author Ben Judah. says on twitter.
Stepan, who was rescued by Anna when he was a month old, rose to prominence in 2019 when Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” video was installed on TikTok, where he garnered over 27 million views with a glass of wine. according to Yahoo. News.
Late last year, he appeared in a Valentino ad with a $2,800 handbag from an Italian designer.