By Taylor Lorenz, Photo: Courtesy of loveyoustepan, The Washington Post, March 17, 2022
For the past week, fans of Stepan, a 13-year-old black-and-brown-striped rescue cat based in Kharkiv, Ukraine, have been in anguish. They’ve refreshed the cat’s Instagram and TikTok feeds and begged for updates in the comments since the accounts went quiet on March 3, as Russia continued its invasion of Ukraine.
On Wednesday, nearly two weeks later, Stepan’s more than 1 million followers breathed a collective sigh of relief. He was safe and in France.
Stepan is the latest example of how influencers in conflict regions — even nonhuman ones — are able to tap into their audiences to escape danger, and how a community that creators usually may rely on to source brand deals or sell merchandise can transform into a lifeline overnight. “When you’ve got that many followers you can use them as a network to provide aid, find shelter or even help find escape routes in a war zone,” Mohamad Taufiq Morshidi, a former fundraiser for Muslim Aid Malaysia who has worked extensively with refugees, said. “Having an online network will help you survive difficult times.”
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