On 26 and 27 April, government-affiliated media outlets Imedi (1, 2, 3), POSTV (1, 2) and Rustavi 2, as well as Russian-language accounts (1, 2, 3, 4) shared information claiming that the American fast food chain McDonald’s is returning to Russia. According to the information shared by Imedi and POSTV, McDonald’s is the first U.S. company to have officially confirmed its desire to return to the Russian market since 2022.
The posts were accompanied by a photo of a document showing that the brand had submitted an application to Russia’s Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Rospatent, to re-register.
The claim that McDonald’s wants to return to Russia is not true. The company renewed its trademark in Russia to protect its intellectual property, but it did not make any official statement about returning to Russia. A company representative confirmed this to Економічна правда.
McDonald’s has applied to Rospatent for trademark registration. According to information available on the Rospatent website, the application was submitted on December 28, 2024, but was published in 2025. The review of the application began in April.
A representative of McDonald’s told the Ukrainian outlet Економічна правда that the company does not plan to return to Russia and that the trademark renewal was solely for the purpose of protecting intellectual property.
“We are doing this to protect our brand and prevent third-party businesses or individuals, particularly in Russia, from using our trademarks for their own purposes,” the company representative said to Економічна правда.
It is worth noting that a similar false claim was previously spread about Coca-Cola. That claim was debunked by Myth Detector. In addition to Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, several other Western companies, including the American Starbucks and the Swedish IKEA, have filed similar applications with Rospatent to protect their trademarks.
McDonald’s exited Russia in May 2022. The American company made this decision due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the past, there were also manipulative claims suggesting that McDonald’s was continuing to operate under a Russian brand.
About the source:
Саня во Флориде is a Russian vlogger who has previously spread disinformation.
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