MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/. Russian Railways (RZD) has temporarily suspended the train steward who ejected a cat named Twix from a commuter train, the deputy head of the company, Ivan Kolesnikov said at the round table "Rules of pet transportation by public transport" in the State Duma.

"The attendant is currently suspended from working with passengers. <...> She is temporarily not working with passenger trains while the investigation is being conducted," he said.

According to Kolesnikov, the company is focused on adjusting regulations to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

On January 11, a cat named Twix escaped from its carrier and was taken off the train by the conductor, who assumed that it was a stray. The owners later reported that the animal died. According to the owner of the animal, Edgar Gaifullin, the pet was being transported home to the Leningrad region from Yekaterinburg with a companion. The cat was purchased a ticket and had all the necessary documents.

The Kirov Line Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on Transport noted that after finding the cat and interviewing passengers, the steward assumed it was homeless and had accidentally entered the car while the train was stopped, after which she released the animal outside. The cat's handler was sleeping at the time. Law enforcement authorities chose not to file charges under Article 330 of the Russian Criminal Code (arbitrary behavior) due to a lack of corpus delicti. The Head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, later authorized an investigation into animal abuse.

After the incident, the RZD decided to prohibit conductors from taking animals off trains. If an animal is found in one of the cars, they are to be handed to personnel at the train stops, who are advised to call animal protection organizations.