International body bans Russian cats following invasion of Ukraine

• FIFe says it is “shocked and horrified”, cannot watch all these atrocities and still do nothing.
• Says "no cat bred in Russia may be imported and registered in any FIFe pedigree book outside Russia."
• Says any cat who is owned by a Russian cannot enter a FIFe show outside of Russia, adding that restrictions are valid until May 31.

While the world has been imposing sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, an international body has gone a step ahead and has imposed a ban on Russian cats.

As reported by NDTV, the Federation Internationale Feline (FIFe), an international cat fancier society, has declared that it will not allow any Russian cats to be imported, registered, and enter any of its shows outside of Russia. Their decision was a way of condemning Russia’s violence against Ukraine.

FIFe announced that from March 1, "no cat bred in Russia may be imported and registered in any FIFe pedigree book outside Russia, regardless of, which organisation issued its pedigree."

It further said that any cat who is owned by a Russian cannot enter a FIFe show outside of Russia, adding that restrictions are valid until May 31.

The destruction and chaos caused after Russia waged a war by invading Ukraine is evident to everyone, said FIFe. 

"It was shocking and horrifying [to see] people losing lives and the terror which was spread because of it," it added.

FIFe often refers to itself as the “United Nations of Cat Federations”, and its body includes members from multiple countries around the world.

Russian forces invaded Ukraine by land, air, and sea on February 24 in the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two.

Loud blasts were heard in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on February 25, as missile strikes and air raid alerts were reported in a number of cities in Ukraine.

— With input from Reuters.