Russian McDonald’s fan chains himself to restaurant ‘to stop it closing’

Fast food giant employs 62,000 people across 850 stores in Russia

Monday 14 March 2022 23:06 GMT

First McDonald's in Russia opens in 1990

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A Russian McDonald’s superfan was seen chaining himself to a restaurant in Moscow after the fast food chain announced it would stop business in Russia in light of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

In an apparent bid to stop the restaurant from closing, the man was filmed staging a protest hours before the fast food giant closed in Russia.

McDonalds, which employs 62,000 people in the country across its 850 stores, joined a host of companies including Pizza Hut and KFC in severing ties in an effort to isolate the Russian economy and put pressure on the government.

Announcing the closure of all McDonald’s sites last week, the company’s president and CEO, Chris Kempczinski, said: “The conflict in Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis in Europe has caused unspeakable suffering to innocent people.”

He added that the company’s “values mean we cannot ignore the needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine”.

People walk past a McDonald’s restaurant in Moscow (AP)

McDonald’s will continue to pay full salaries for all Ukrainian and Russian staff.

But the move has left many Russians hungry for their favourite food stores while others have capitalised on the shortages by selling regular McDonalds meals online for hundreds of pounds.

In response to the announced closures, customers turned to Avito, a Russian auction site similar to eBay. One meal, consisting of two burgers, two drinks and a cherry pie was listed, with the seller asking for 7,500 Russian rubles, equivalent to £47 (as of 3pm on last Wednesday).