Famous Meme Cat From Ukraine Uses Viral Platform to Plea for End to the War

The owner of a famous online cat, who counts Britney Spears among his fans, has called for peace from the midst of a war-torn region in Ukraine.

Stepan the tabby has captured the hearts of millions, with his deadpan expressions turned into countless memes.

His owner, thought to be called Anna, shares his hilarious content on TikTok, @annaolala, and Instagram, @loveyoustepan, where he has millions of likes and followers.

Singer Spears even shared a snap of handsome Stepan to her own Instagram account in November, liked more than a million times, which she captioned: "If I go quiet from time to time, you can catch me with this cat somewhere."

But lately Anna's posts have taken on a somber tone, as the cat owner shared photos from battle-scarred Kharkiv, using hashtags with the alternative spelling, Kharkov.

While previous articles on Stepan, by local site Nebayduzha.rubryka.com, also cited the pair living in Kharkiv.

Stepan's Instagram shared a trio of posts referencing the Russian invasion, one simply a wall of text with emojis, including a white dove. Translated into English, it said: "Ukraine doesn't want war. The people of Ukraine want peace."

More recent posts this week show Stepan himself, as the caption said: "Ukraine does not want a war! I @loveyoustepan launching a flash mob. Post a photo and put the hashtag #stopwar #stopputin. World we need your support."

While another, posted on Thursday, translated to English, confirmed: "We are alive!

"People, stop the war! The Russian army continues to bomb the civilian population of Ukraine! #stopwar."

There was an outpouring of support in the comments, with the photo liked more than 38,000 times, as Jillpopcorn wrote: "Thank goodness you are ok! We've been so worried. We love you Stepan."

Diana_lizz_ commented: "We are always worried about you, your family and all your people, this must stop now."

While Brunotheminidachshund wrote: "Thank goodness. We've been so worried seeing what is happening. Stay safe. We are all here with you."

Anna accompanied the snap of Stepan with videos and photos of war-torn Ukraine, including plumes of smoke rising from buildings, bombed tower blocks, and streets covered in debris.

The northeastern city, close to the Russian border, has faced an onslaught from missiles and rockets, with the opera house, concert hall and government buildings in the city's Freedom Square bombed.

At least 10 people were killed and 35 more injured, according to the BBC, with numerous photos and videos circulating on social media showing fireballs blowing out windows on Tuesday.

President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, saying: "This is terror against Ukraine.

"There were no military targets in the square—nor are they in those residential districts of Kharkiv which come under rocket artillery fire," the site quoted.

Newsweek reached out to Anna for comment.