Vasily Vyrsky, a cat, has been named the most beautiful museum cat in the Leningrad Region.
Basil won the online vote on the Museum Agency's VKontakte page Leningrad region, ahead of five colleagues. The winner carries out his duties as a mouser at the Stationmaster's House Museum (in village of Vyra, Gatchina district).
As the organizers report, "on the final day of voting, a tense battle unfolded between the admirers of two cats—Vasiliy and Emelyan. The scales tipped in favor of one candidate or the other many times, and we literally didn't know until the very last seconds who would receive the most votes!" Ultimately, the cat took second place by a narrow margin. Emelyan Kexholmsky, an employee of the Korela Fortress Museum (Priozersk).
Both winners received diplomas and “bags with all sorts of useful, absolutely necessary things for all cats from a veterinary pharmacy and pet store.”