Chechnya is currently being run by an authoritarian leader named Ramzan Kadyrov. He is a man who loves many things including posting videos of his workout routines, Vladimir Putin, and his family Bengal Cat. All of this information is gleaned from his very entertaining Instagram account which you can explore for yourself here.

When Kadyrov lost his cat, he took to the internet to try to get it back. BBC News translated Kadyrov's Instagram post saying the man made the plea:

"Our cat has vanished,ten days ago, it disappeared. We all thought that it would turn up soon, since it is very much attached to the children, it loves to play with them... But now we are seriously worried. Perhaps it is staying with somebody in the neighbourhood... Therefore, we would be grateful for the information if anybody knows anything. Thanks in advance."

While the cat has yet to be returned, the internet has given multiple amusing responses. Many people commented on Kadyrov's photo with completely unhelpful "information."John Oliver did a segment on the "crisis" and brought up a very good point. Why is a man who has been accused of so many human rights violations concerned about a pet cat? Why does the uncertainty of the cat's fate move this authoritarian where the realities of many of his citizens fates does not? Before going any further into this rant, let's review some basic information about Chechnya.

According to BBC, Chechnya is a republic within the Russian Federation. Citizens fled the republic from 1994-2009 because of the wars against Russia for independence.Chechnya is a valuable asset for Russia due to its oil reserves. Ramzan Kadyrov is the Chechen president after being nominated by Vladimir Putin in 2007.

Putin largely nominated Kadyrov because of his family name and his father's legacy as president of Chechnya before him. Kadyrov, however, is a young leader with a dark history following him. He has been accused of human rights violations including oppressing those who would criticize him through violence. His security forces have burned down buildings, threatened citizens, and even kidnapped people whose current whereabouts are unknown. He has also enforced policies promoting the Islamic faith including requiring women to wear a headscarf in government building regardless of their faith. That's what makes this man's plea to find his cat so amusing to me. His beloved Bengal cat is missing, and he wants answers. Some of his citizen's sons and daughters are missing, and they also want answers.

My best guess to the cats whereabouts are that he was abducted by a Chechen citizen to give Kadyrov a taste of his own medicine. If you, however, randomly find yourself in Chechnya and see a Bengal cat that looks like Kadyrov's, consider keeping it as ransom, just make sure you upload your cryptic messages to Instagram so Kadyrov is sure to see them!