How Many Russians Does It Take To Get A Cat Out A Tree?

A cat rescue video making rounds on the Russian internet is already being dubbed as the worst cat rescue attempt ever.

Filmed back in 2001 by one of the local TV channels in Nizhny Novgorod, the clip sees a crowd of onlookers and cat-enthusiasts gather around a tree, where the unfortunate feline Barsik has gotten himself into a stick situation.

The main protagonist of the video is an enterprising Russian soldier, who first attempts to bend the tree down using a bottle of ice and a rope.

This soon goes horribly wrong as the bottle smashes one of the bottom floor windows, though not to be deterred, the enthusiastic recruit soon generates yet another crazy idea.

Eventually, after getting a butcher’s axe (“Everyone has one of those in the kitchen!”), the Ushanka-wearing hero chops the tree down and all hell breaks loose as the cat scarpers.

Through some basic social media research it was established that no cat was (significantly) hurt in the process and the animal, along with the recruit, are still alive and well.