In Separatist-Backed Eastern Ukraine, Âé¶¹Éçs Are Turning Abandoned McDonald’s Into ‘DonMak’

The fast food joint serves burgers, fries and meals that come with a toy for children — all sheathed in DonMak packaging, which looks suspiciously like McDonald’s.

By Veronika Bondarenko | Mar 31, 2017
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YouTube Screenshot via BI

This story originally appeared on

When the McDonald’s in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk shuttered due to war and Western sanctions, some local entrepreneurs opened a nearly-identical restaurant that they call “DonMak.”

The fast food joint, which we first spotted over at , serves burgers, fries and meals that come with a toy for children — all sheathed in DonMak packaging, which looks suspiciously like McDonald’s.

The iconic yellow arches still grace the front of the remodeled DonMak building:

on Oct 14, 2016 at 11:16pm PDT

The two original McDonald’s in Donetsk , after fighting among pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces for control of the territory intensified.

But while the city remains , DonMak’s founders quickly seized on the opportunity to fill local cravings for American fast food:

on Mar 30, 2017 at 5:34am PDT

People packed DonMak for the July 2016 opening:

Last year, that they were looking into “Mc,” a copycat burger restaurant that opened in Luhansk, another separatist-controlled city in Ukraine, after the American chain closed there in 2014. It’s likely a matter of time before DonMak faces the same legal scrutiny.

When the McDonald’s in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk shuttered due to war and Western sanctions, some local entrepreneurs opened a nearly-identical restaurant that they call “DonMak.”

The fast food joint, which we first spotted over at , serves burgers, fries and meals that come with a toy for children — all sheathed in DonMak packaging, which looks suspiciously like McDonald’s.

The iconic yellow arches still grace the front of the remodeled DonMak building:

on Oct 14, 2016 at 11:16pm PDT

The two original McDonald’s in Donetsk , after fighting among pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces for control of the territory intensified.

But while the city remains , DonMak’s founders quickly seized on the opportunity to fill local cravings for American fast food:

on Mar 30, 2017 at 5:34am PDT

People packed DonMak for the July 2016 opening:

Last year, that they were looking into “Mc,” a copycat burger restaurant that opened in Luhansk, another separatist-controlled city in Ukraine, after the American chain closed there in 2014. It’s likely a matter of time before DonMak faces the same legal scrutiny.

Veronika Bondarenko • Writer

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