McDonald's in Russia shut for maximum term on health grounds

Courts ordered three McDonald's restaurants in Moscow to be closed for the maximum term of 90 days on Wednesday on health grounds in a case widely seen as retaliation against Western sanctions.

The three Moscow restaurants include one located in the shadow of the Kremlin and the first McDonald's restaurant to open its doors in the final years of Communism, becoming a symbol of Russia's gradual acceptance of the West.

But the decision is set against retribution by Russia for sanctions by the West over Russia's support for separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Last week the consumer safety agency Rospotrebnadzor ordered the Moscow restaurants closed. And reports circulated that the government had ordered inspections of all of the US burger chain's more than 430 locations across the country.

Restaurants in the southern city of Stavropol and Yekaterinburg in the Urals have also been ordered closed following inspections.

A McDonald's lawyer said they would appeal against the rulings.

"The rulings were unfounded, the court imposed the maximum penalty ... but there was no justification for this," Maxim Titarenko was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

"The violations which Rospotrebnadzor cited have either already been eliminated or are in the process of being eliminated," he added.

Officials have denied the company is being specifically targeted.