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Russia's Jan. 18 attack damages Ukraine's oldest McDonald’s in Kyiv

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Russia's Jan. 18 attack damages Ukraine's oldest McDonald’s in Kyiv
A woman walks past a damaged McDonald's fast-food restaurant following a Russian missile attack on Kyiv, on Jan. 18, 2025. (Tetiana Dzhafarova/AFP via Getty Images)

A Russian missile strike on Kyiv early on Jan. 18 damaged Ukraine's oldest McDonald’s, located near the Lukianivska metro station in the city's Shevchenkivskyi district. Open since 1997, this is the first McDonald's restaurant in the country.

McDonald’s Ukraine confirmed the damage in a statement: "Today, during an aerial attack on Kyiv, a McDonald’s restaurant near the Lukianivska metro station was damaged. Our staff were able to evacuate to a shelter in time thanks to our safety protocols."

The restaurant is currently closed but the company pledged to repair the damages.

Kyiv remains a frequent target of Russian attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

The missile attack caused significant destruction in the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv. Three people—a 41-year-old woman and two men aged 25 and 43—were killed, and three others sustained injuries, according to Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported additional damage in the area, including shattered windows and smoke filling the entrance of a residential building. The glass entrance to the Lukianivska metro station was also damaged in the attack. Several cars caught fire, and a water pipeline was damaged.

Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 8, injure 38 over past day
Russia launched 39 drones, including Shahed-type, and four ballistic missiles of either the Iskander-M or the North Korean KN-23 model overnight, the Air Force reported.
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Olena Goncharova

Head of North America desk

Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

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