A Russian McDonald’s superfan chained himself to a restaurant in Moscow in a desperate bid to prevent it from closing down.
A man reported to be Luka Safronov was filmed staging a last-ditch protest only hours before the all of Russia ’s golden arches were due to shut indefinitely after the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The fast food giant employs around 62,000 people in Russia and it announced that after the country's invasion of Ukraine it was going to shutter all of its 850 branches on Monday.
This has left many fans heartbroken they’ll be left without their Big Macs or chicken nuggets and comes as the country is already suffering Coca Cola shortages after the company also decided to suspend business in Russia.
But, some more business-savvy customers took advantage of the situation and are now flogging regular McDonald meals online for hundreds of pounds.
Want all the latest news and analysis from Ukraine? Sign up to our World News Bulletin here
According to screengrabs from a Russian online marketplace, McDonald's meal prices have gone through the roof even though the food is being sold cold.
Some went even as far as trying to flog four burgers, nuggets and dipping sauce for a massive £250.
One budding businesswoman or man was trying to cash in on just two burgers, two drinks and a cherry pie for £46.
On top of that, Coca-Cola has cancelled its supplies to Russia, which has seen the price of a single cold glass of coke shoot up to £8.
Follow all the latest updates on the conflict with our live blog
But Luka was interested in none of this, and took to the streets today in a show of defiance.
He chained himself to the door of the restaurant in an attempt to fight its closure until its bitter end.
The heartbroken Russian was reportedly shouting: “Closing down is an act of hostility against me and my fellow citizens!”
Whilst he protests, other customers make the most of their last day of McDonald’s, walking past him and inside.
Later on, others can be heard laughing at the futile protest as crowds gather and the police approach him.
In the end, police eventually drag him away, marking an end to his protest.
It came after McDonald's President and CEO Chris Kempckinski said in a letter to employees closing its stores, for now, was the right thing to do.
He said: "As we move forward, McDonald’s will continue to assess the situation and determine if any additional measures are required.
"At this juncture, it’s impossible to predict when we might be able to reopen our restaurants in Russia.
"We are experiencing disruptions to our supply chain along with other operational impacts. We will also closely monitor the humanitarian situation."
McDonald’s is far from the only company to pull the plug on their Russian operations.
Starbucks shut its 130 stores whilst Disney, Ikea, Netflix, Spotify and countless others have all followed suit.
