McDonald’s and other major Western brands want to return to Russia – So it was never really about “humanitarian crisis” then, since the war in Ukraine continues?

Published May 4, 2025 | By NewsJive.com

When Russia launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 – following a proxy war with the West that had been ongoing since 2014 after the orchestrated Maidan coup in Kiev – almost all major Western companies chose to leave Russia. The most well-known among them was McDonald’s.

McDonald’s, which was one of the first major corporations to open its operations in the former Soviet Union back in 1990 during the so-called Glasnost period and the perestroika that was in full swing in the country at the time, announced shortly after the war broke out that they were leaving Russia.

The reason they cited for this – just like many other Western companies that left Russia – was “the humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, and the precipitating unpredictable operating environment,” as they wrote on their website.

McDonald’s also wrote that Russia’s actions are not “consistent with McDonald’s values” in its official statement explaining why they chose to leave the country.

But that was then. Today, almost three years later – at a time when the war is at its most brutal and persistent, and with Russia beginning to gain ground while the West’s plans, particularly its military and above all economic warfare, have not quite succeeded – we now receive news that McDonald’s and other Western companies that left in 2022 are seeking to return to the Russian market.

McDonald’s is even reported to have applied to register its trademark with the government agency Rospatent, according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

According to Rospatent, the McDonald’s filed its trademark application in December 2024. Rospatent published the filing in 2025, and in April, a decision was made to accept the application for review. McDonald’s also submitted a letter confirming that the list of goods and services complies with the requirements of the Code.

Under the “McDonald’s” trademark, the company intends to produce and sell beverages and food in Russia, including ready-to-eat meals, as well as provide restaurant services and offer food and beverage delivery, RIA Novosti reports.

In an interview with the Ukrainian news website, Ekonomichna Pravda, McDonald’s denied that they are moving back to Russia, and said, “We do this to protect our brand and not allow third-party businesses or individuals, particularly in Russia, to use our trademarks in their interests”.

They stated that it was a not a question of returning to the Russia, but instead a “procedure was carried out to preserve intellectual property”, according to Ekonomichna Pravda.

How things really stand in all of this, and who is telling the truth, remains to be seen. The McDonald’s brand ceased to be used in Russia when the company exited the country, and the Russian brand “Vkusno i Tochka” (“Tasty and That’s It”) took over the chain’s operations under a new name.

But the big question remains largely unanswered: If McDonald’s and the other mega-corporations and their owners are now returning to Russia – as much seems to suggest – how much did they truly care about the “humanitarian crisis” from the very beginning, which they claimed conflicted with their “values”? Or was it, as usual, really about money, power, and greed?

That also remains to be seen, how these large corporations will act, and how they will spin it with punchy demagoguery and pure corporate b*llshit to sell their “new” values to the public, if they decide to go back to Russia, so to speak.

By NewsJive Editorial Team.

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