HBO Comedian John Oliver in Online Spat With Chechen Strongman Over Missing Cat

MOSCOW— -- Comedian John Oliver has gotten into an unlikely long-distance spat with the feared president of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, on the improbable subject of the leader’s lost cat, a toyger.

Kadyrov, who rules the semiautonomous republic in Russia’s south, published a post on his popular Instagram account last week, announcing that he had lost his cat and asking Chechens whether they had seen it.

Appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2007, Kadyrov, 39, controls a private army of tens of thousands of men and is accused by rights groups of kidnapping and personally torturing his enemies. But Kadyrov wrote last week that he had “begun to seriously worry” about the cat, which resembles a miniature tiger, adding that he would be grateful for any information.

“Thank you in advance,” wrote Kadyrov, who was recently accused of ordering a critic’s house burned down.

John Oliver responded Sunday to Kadyrov’s request for aid on his HBO show, “Last Week Tonight.” After making fun of the Chechen leader for his seemingly obsessive worship of Putin (and his passion for T-shirts depicting the Russian president), Oliver mentioned Kadyrov’s brutal record and told viewers they urgently needed to find the cat.

The British comedian told his audience to begin tweeting at Kadyrov, writing “I have seen your cat” if they had seen the pet or “I have not seen your cat” if they had not. If they were unsure, Oliver asked them to send photos of themselves with cats, asking “Is this your cat?”

Kadyrov’s Twitter and Instagram have since been filled with cat photos and messages from people saying they have not seen his cat, with the hashtag #FindKadyrovsCat.

Kadyrov responded today to Oliver’s sketch. Kadyrov’s Instagram account posted a doctored picture of the comedian wearing a Putin T-shirt with the caption “I am tired of jokes. I want to care for cats in Chechnya. By the way, Putin is our leader.”

The picture was accompanied by a long post in idiosyncratic English thanking people for searching for the cat and criticizing America. “Some people say that they saw the cat in Vladivostok, Japan, Iceland, New Zealand, and even in the Oval Office of the White House! I am grateful to all, but this is NOT my cat,” it read in part.

The post went on, less clearly, “I knew long ago that in the USA unevenly breathe to my younger friends. One day horses aren't allowed to jump, the other - a cat is a real star of a show.”

The post ended by blaming President Barack Obama for the wars in Syria and Libya and Oliver for supporting him.

In recent years Kadyrov has created an elaborate public persona that blends strict Islamic observance with gushing adoration of Putin, Rambo-like antics and a cuddly love for animals (including a full-size pet tiger, reportedly not missing).

This is not the first time Kadyrov’s Instagram has led to odd interactions. His account has 1.8 million followers and puts up several posts a day, featuring him doing such things as working out, commanding Chechen special forces, firing machine guns, wrestling crocodiles and cradling lions in his arms.

Tigers are also a recurring feature on the account, and the missing cat is reportedly a U.S. special breed known as a toyger, or toy tiger, because its striped coat resembles the much larger cat’s.

As of this writing, Kadyrov is still looking for it.