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| A Fast-Food Symbol of America Falls in Moscow | A Fast-Food Symbol of America Falls in Moscow |
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| MOSCOW — Sanat Parmanova arrived at Moscow’s flagship McDonald’s just off Pushkin Square on Thursday evening as a woman on a mission. Her friend Svetlana Toktorbayeva was carrying a takeout bag of wings from KFC, but Ms. Parmanova had a different dinner in mind: a double cheeseburger, country-style fries, cheese sauce and a medium Coke, no ice. | MOSCOW — Sanat Parmanova arrived at Moscow’s flagship McDonald’s just off Pushkin Square on Thursday evening as a woman on a mission. Her friend Svetlana Toktorbayeva was carrying a takeout bag of wings from KFC, but Ms. Parmanova had a different dinner in mind: a double cheeseburger, country-style fries, cheese sauce and a medium Coke, no ice. |
| Alas, it seemed politics had denied her craving. | Alas, it seemed politics had denied her craving. |
| The door was locked. The restaurant, which in some years has been the busiest McDonald’s in the world, was dark. A small sign said: “The public eating-establishment of fast service is closed for technical reasons. We apologize for the inconvenience.” Ms. Parmanova’s shoulders drooped in a dejected harrumph. | The door was locked. The restaurant, which in some years has been the busiest McDonald’s in the world, was dark. A small sign said: “The public eating-establishment of fast service is closed for technical reasons. We apologize for the inconvenience.” Ms. Parmanova’s shoulders drooped in a dejected harrumph. |
| “I heard that they were going to shut down McDonald’s restaurants because of the conflict with the U.S.,” she said. “I didn’t think it would be so soon.” | “I heard that they were going to shut down McDonald’s restaurants because of the conflict with the U.S.,” she said. “I didn’t think it would be so soon.” |
| The Pushkin Square restaurant — a symbol of the thawing of the Cold War when it became the first McDonald’s in the Soviet Union, in 1990 — was one of four in Moscow that the Russian government ordered closed on Wednesday. The official reason given by Rospotrebnadzor, the country’s consumer protection agency, was “numerous violations of the sanitary code.” | The Pushkin Square restaurant — a symbol of the thawing of the Cold War when it became the first McDonald’s in the Soviet Union, in 1990 — was one of four in Moscow that the Russian government ordered closed on Wednesday. The official reason given by Rospotrebnadzor, the country’s consumer protection agency, was “numerous violations of the sanitary code.” |
| Ms. Parmanova and other would-be customers did not buy it for a minute, insisting that the bitter conflict between Russia and the West over Ukraine was to blame. | Ms. Parmanova and other would-be customers did not buy it for a minute, insisting that the bitter conflict between Russia and the West over Ukraine was to blame. |
| “It’s political,” she said. “If they really cared about people’s health, they wouldn’t have allowed it to open in the first place. It’s only because of a conflict between the presidents that it has been shut down.” | “It’s political,” she said. “If they really cared about people’s health, they wouldn’t have allowed it to open in the first place. It’s only because of a conflict between the presidents that it has been shut down.” |
| Maybe President Vladimir V. Putin doesn’t like hamburgers? “Putin doesn’t like Obama,” Ms. Parmanova shot back. | Maybe President Vladimir V. Putin doesn’t like hamburgers? “Putin doesn’t like Obama,” Ms. Parmanova shot back. |
| Never mind that McDonald’s has 437 restaurants in Russia that employ more than 37,000 people; that, according to the company, 85 percent of its products in Russia come from Russian suppliers; or that in 2011, it won an award as the country’s best employer. In the mind of the Kremlin, the Big Mac — or Beeg Mak, as it’s ordered here — is still more American than apple pie, which Russians sometimes call sharlotka and regard as about as American as Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. | |
| “It is just a political reaction — Putin’s reaction,” declared Veronika Kolbasina. | “It is just a political reaction — Putin’s reaction,” declared Veronika Kolbasina. |
| Ms. Kolbasina, 56, recalled standing in line for two hours to get into the restaurant on the day it opened: Jan. 31, 1990. She went with her son, then a little boy. He is now 30. | Ms. Kolbasina, 56, recalled standing in line for two hours to get into the restaurant on the day it opened: Jan. 31, 1990. She went with her son, then a little boy. He is now 30. |
| “It was a hamburger with real meat,” Ms. Kolbasina said. She added that she had kept paper cups from her first McDonald’s meal, and that when she heard that some were being closed, she ran to the nearest one and ate a Caesar salad. | “It was a hamburger with real meat,” Ms. Kolbasina said. She added that she had kept paper cups from her first McDonald’s meal, and that when she heard that some were being closed, she ran to the nearest one and ate a Caesar salad. |
| “My favorite salad,” she said, pulling the clean, empty bowl from her purse. “I decided to keep it in case the whole chain is shut down.” | “My favorite salad,” she said, pulling the clean, empty bowl from her purse. “I decided to keep it in case the whole chain is shut down.” |
| The government said that the four closed restaurants, including one in Manezh Square just outside the Kremlin walls, had failed sanitary inspections carried out this week. Officials denied on Thursday that American fast-food chains were being singled out or that there were plans for sweeping inspections of them. | The government said that the four closed restaurants, including one in Manezh Square just outside the Kremlin walls, had failed sanitary inspections carried out this week. Officials denied on Thursday that American fast-food chains were being singled out or that there were plans for sweeping inspections of them. |
| Some Russian news outlets, however, reported that additional inspections were already underway at McDonald’s restaurants across Russia. | Some Russian news outlets, however, reported that additional inspections were already underway at McDonald’s restaurants across Russia. |
| McDonald’s issued a statement in Russia saying that it was studying the government’s complaints and working to reopen the restaurants as quickly as possible. “We always impeccably follow the regulations and laws of the Russian Federation,” the company said. | McDonald’s issued a statement in Russia saying that it was studying the government’s complaints and working to reopen the restaurants as quickly as possible. “We always impeccably follow the regulations and laws of the Russian Federation,” the company said. |
| Independent analysts noted that the seemingly politically motivated decision to shut down outlets of a major business might not be in Russia’s interests. | Independent analysts noted that the seemingly politically motivated decision to shut down outlets of a major business might not be in Russia’s interests. |
| “Not very clever given that a lot of the product from these operations is sourced from local farms in and around Moscow,” said Timothy Ash, a market analyst at Standard Bank in London who closely follows Russia and Ukraine. | “Not very clever given that a lot of the product from these operations is sourced from local farms in and around Moscow,” said Timothy Ash, a market analyst at Standard Bank in London who closely follows Russia and Ukraine. |
| Political analysts have similarly warned that it might not be in Russia’s interests to support an armed separatist rebellion right alongside the Russian border in eastern Ukraine. But bigger geopolitical imperatives seem to be driving things, regardless of the affection Muscovites profess for McDonald’s — including for a number of menu items, like the Freshburger with Parmesan or the Beef Roll, that are mostly unheard-of in the United States. | Political analysts have similarly warned that it might not be in Russia’s interests to support an armed separatist rebellion right alongside the Russian border in eastern Ukraine. But bigger geopolitical imperatives seem to be driving things, regardless of the affection Muscovites profess for McDonald’s — including for a number of menu items, like the Freshburger with Parmesan or the Beef Roll, that are mostly unheard-of in the United States. |
| Among the disappointed customers looking through the locked door of the McDonald’s on Pushkin Square were Svetlana Fomina and her children, Gordey, 7, and Alisa, 4, in search of burgers and fries. | Among the disappointed customers looking through the locked door of the McDonald’s on Pushkin Square were Svetlana Fomina and her children, Gordey, 7, and Alisa, 4, in search of burgers and fries. |
| “For me, it’s a positive company — I worked there when I was a student,” Ms. Fomina said, as a young man in a Yale University T-shirt rolled up on a skateboard and took a peek into the darkened restaurant. | “For me, it’s a positive company — I worked there when I was a student,” Ms. Fomina said, as a young man in a Yale University T-shirt rolled up on a skateboard and took a peek into the darkened restaurant. |
| “America, for some reason, meddles into Russia’s affairs,” Ms. Fomina added. “What’s their business here? They’ve got their own continent. We and Ukrainians are one nation. We don’t go there to say, ‘Why are you abusing Mexicans?’ ” | “America, for some reason, meddles into Russia’s affairs,” Ms. Fomina added. “What’s their business here? They’ve got their own continent. We and Ukrainians are one nation. We don’t go there to say, ‘Why are you abusing Mexicans?’ ” |
| Still, she said: “Politics and business should not be mixed. I want American jeans because those are good ones. I think they shouldn’t have closed McDonald’s because everyone eats there. There is nothing criminal.” | Still, she said: “Politics and business should not be mixed. I want American jeans because those are good ones. I think they shouldn’t have closed McDonald’s because everyone eats there. There is nothing criminal.” |
| At the McDonald’s on Gazetny Pereulok not far from Red Square, still open and crowded, Sofia Zalesskaya, 17, a high school student, said McDonald’s offered good food at affordable prices, and good Wi-Fi. “Drinking vodka, which the whole country does, is much worse for health than eating French fries and chicken,” Ms. Zalesskaya said. | At the McDonald’s on Gazetny Pereulok not far from Red Square, still open and crowded, Sofia Zalesskaya, 17, a high school student, said McDonald’s offered good food at affordable prices, and good Wi-Fi. “Drinking vodka, which the whole country does, is much worse for health than eating French fries and chicken,” Ms. Zalesskaya said. |
| The restaurants in Moscow are not the first fast-food casualties in the deepening conflict over Ukraine. McDonald’s closed its three restaurants in Crimea after Russia invaded and annexed the peninsula in March. On Wednesday, the prime minister of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said the restaurants were not missed. | The restaurants in Moscow are not the first fast-food casualties in the deepening conflict over Ukraine. McDonald’s closed its three restaurants in Crimea after Russia invaded and annexed the peninsula in March. On Wednesday, the prime minister of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said the restaurants were not missed. |
| “We will be healthier,” Mr. Aksyonov told reporters in Simferopol, the Crimean capital, according to the Interfax news service. “This food does not suit. Look at people who regularly eat McDonald’s food. Some of them have to turn sideways to squeeze through a door frame.” | “We will be healthier,” Mr. Aksyonov told reporters in Simferopol, the Crimean capital, according to the Interfax news service. “This food does not suit. Look at people who regularly eat McDonald’s food. Some of them have to turn sideways to squeeze through a door frame.” |
| At the Pushkin Square McDonald’s, Ms. Parmanova, the 21-year-old safety engineering student who had been looking forward to a double cheeseburger, said that frequent meals at McDonald’s had not had adverse effects on her figure. Wearing a body-clinging white minidress, she gestured dramatically at her bare, taut thigh. | At the Pushkin Square McDonald’s, Ms. Parmanova, the 21-year-old safety engineering student who had been looking forward to a double cheeseburger, said that frequent meals at McDonald’s had not had adverse effects on her figure. Wearing a body-clinging white minidress, she gestured dramatically at her bare, taut thigh. |
| “Even though I look slim, I eat here quite often,” she said. “Maybe later, with age, the effect will be more noticeable, cellulite and all that.” | “Even though I look slim, I eat here quite often,” she said. “Maybe later, with age, the effect will be more noticeable, cellulite and all that.” |
| She added, “People say that this is plastic food, that this is very unhealthy, but I like it very much.” | She added, “People say that this is plastic food, that this is very unhealthy, but I like it very much.” |