The famous McDonald’s in Pushkin Square in Moscow is closed. Once the busiest McDonald’s in the world–and the first to open in post-Soviet Russia–not even Vincent Vega could get a quarter pounder with cheese there now. And the Moscow Mickey D’s is not alone. The map above, which comes from the Russian-language website Yopolis, shows the multitude of McDonald’s closed around Russia and those that have been hit with legal violations.
The New York Times reported back in August that the Pushkin Square McDonald’s was closed. The closing and targeting for violations of so many McDonald’s is believed to be in response to Russia’s disagreements with the West. The very reason the Moscow McDonald’s was originally celebrated after the fall of the Soviet Union–because it represented freedom (and french fries)–is why it’s being closed now, if one believes the closings are political and reactionary. Not everything about that idea makes sense. As Vox.com reveals “there are give-or-take 437 McDonald’s in Russia and they purchase about 85 percent of their supplies from Russian companies.” But nationalism can trump pragmatism anytime.