A cat famous for stealing $1,000 worth of fish and caviar from an airport shop in Vladivostok has arrived in Moscow to film the April 1 episode of popular talk show "Pust Govoryat" ("Let Them Speak"), Russian media reported Monday.
It remains unclear what sort of talent the cat will bring to the talk show, which usually features scandalous themes akin to those on America's "The Jerry Springer Show," but the fact that she is set to appear on the April Fools' Day episode may be an indication that shenanigans are bound to ensue.
The cat, named Matroska (Sailor), shot to Internet stardom after video footage of her gorging herself inside the fish shop's display case went viral in December. She has since become a source of pride both in her native Primorye region, and as far afield as St. Petersburg.
In December, Matroska was deemed the mascot of Vladivostok hockey club Admiral.
That same month, Primorye region Governor Vladimir Miklushevsky voiced support for an initiative that would make cat the region's official tourism mascot. But Miklushevsky later issued a statement announcing that the mascot would instead remain the far eastern tiger, state media reported.
An artist in St. Petersburg erected a sculpture of Matroska on a tray of seafood that she wanted to donate to the airport, but the airport refused the gift, the Russian News Service reported in January.
The sculpture is "not seen as a symbol of striving for success or achieving a dream, as the artist intended, but rather as literally a monument to an animal that stuffed its face at a store," the airport's press service was quoted as saying.
Matroska's caretakers launched a popular Instagram account. Announcing her flight to Moscow on Sunday, the Instagram page said Matroska was nervous about flying for the first time, but excited by the prospect that Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport may have a store similar to the Vladivostok airport's Fish Island shop. "I'm sooooo hungry," Matroska was quoted as saying.
Here's the video that made Matroska famous...
Correction: This article previously referred to the cat as male, but Matroska is female.
