The world’s largest fast-food restaurant chain, McDonald’s is to temporarily close all 847 of its restaurants in Russia but, continue to pay salaries to its 62,000 employees in Russia.
This move will include the closure of its iconic Pushkin Square location.
McDonald’s is not alone in this show of solidarity with the Ukrainians.
The beverage giants, Coca-Cola and Pepsico have also said they are suspending their businesses in the country.
With other global companies, these businesses had been facing threats of boycotts for failing to pull out of Russia in protest at the war
The moves will place increasing pressure on other global brands to pause operations in the country following the invasion of Ukraine.
The closure of the McDonald’s restaurants will also carry symbolic importance in Russia, where the first location to open, in central Moscow in 1990, became a symbol of flourishing American capitalism as the Soviet Union fell.
