The city of Irpin, once a key battleground in the defense of Kyiv during the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion, will soon be home to its first McDonald’s restaurant, a 550-square-meter location slated to open near the city’s railway station.
The development marks a milestone in Irpin’s postwar recovery and ongoing reconstruction efforts. The restaurant will be located at 4-B Tsentralna Street, in proximity to the central transit corridor and within walking distance of the train terminal.
It will include a large terrace, modern McDrive service lanes, and dedicated parking spaces for drivers waiting on mobile orders.
“Like all McDonald’s locations in Ukraine, the Irpin restaurant will follow expanded safety protocols,” said Angela Makeeva, acting mayor of Irpin, in a statement on social media. “In the event of an air raid alert, the restaurant will temporarily close so employees and customers can move to the nearest shelter. Service will resume within an hour of the all-clear.”
This will be the first McDonald’s to open in Irpin since Russia’s 2022 invasion devastated the city, leaving approximately 70 percent of its buildings damaged or destroyed. While other regions in Ukraine have seen international chains resume operations, Irpin’s addition reflects an inflection point in the city’s reconstruction and a broader push toward normalized daily life.
A HERO CITY: IRPIN’S ROLE IN DEFENDING KYIV
Irpin played a central role in Ukraine’s early wartime defense. Located just northwest of the capital, the city was among the first targeted during Russia’s ground assault in late February 2022. For weeks, Irpin saw intense street fighting, shelling, and the forced evacuation of thousands of residents as Ukrainian forces held the line.
Photos of civilians fleeing across the destroyed bridge over the Irpin River became defining images of the war. Ukrainian engineers intentionally demolished the structure to prevent Russian armored columns from advancing into Kyiv — a tactical move that contributed to the eventual failure of Russia’s northern offensive.
On March 28, 2022, Ukrainian forces announced they had fully liberated Irpin. In the weeks that followed, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded the city the honorary title “Hero City of Ukraine,” a Soviet-era designation revived during the war to acknowledge exceptional resistance and civilian courage under siege.
Today, the bridge remains in ruins as a memorial, preserved intentionally as part of the city’s wartime memory.
MCDONALD’S BRINGS ECONOMIC STIMULUS TO IRPIN
The new McDonald’s location is expected to employ roughly 100 local residents. The company’s continued investment in Ukraine has been widely interpreted as both a commercial commitment and a morale boost.
“To ensure uninterrupted service, the restaurant will be equipped with a generator — as are more than 90% of McDonald’s locations across Ukraine, said Makeyeva. “This will allow operations to continue even during potential power outages.”
The Irpin opening aligns with McDonald’s Ukraine’s broader post-invasion strategy. In 2024, the company paid ₴2.6 billion (Ukrainian hryvnia) in taxes to the national budget. It employs approximately 10,000 people across the country and continues to expand despite the ongoing war.
“McDonald’s remains the leading fast-food chain in Ukraine. The first restaurant opened on May 24, 1997, in Kyiv,” said Makeyeva. “The company is regularly listed among the country’s top employers and largest taxpayers. In 2024 alone, McDonald’s paid ₴2.6 billion in taxes to the state budget.”
The company also serves as a founding partner and largest corporate backer of the Ronald McDonald House Charities Foundation in Ukraine, providing services and infrastructure to support displaced and ill children.
RESHAPING PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE
The restaurant’s arrival is also prompting adjustments to Irpin’s public transportation grid.
“The final stop for several bus routes will be relocated to the opposite side of the Novus supermarket,” said Makeyeva. “A new public transit stop will also be set up near the Alley of Glory, not far from the Fora supermarket.”
These transport updates are part of a broader municipal effort to rebuild Irpin’s service infrastructure. Since the end of major hostilities in the region, the city has accelerated the reconstruction of residential buildings, schools, healthcare facilities, and critical utilities.
More than two years after its liberation, Irpin remains one of the most visible test cases of how local Ukrainian governments are attempting to restore urban life under conditions of persistent national insecurity.
A SISTER-CITY BOND: IRPIN AND MILWAUKEE
Irpin’s postwar story is not unfolding in isolation. Since March 2018, the city has been officially partnered with Milwaukee, Wisconsin, through a Sister City agreement. That relationship, initially intended for cultural and economic exchange, took on new significance after the invasion began.
Milwaukee city officials, Ukrainian-American organizations, and civic groups mobilized to provide humanitarian support to Irpin, including donations of medical supplies, educational resources, technology gear, and reconstruction aid.
Milwaukee Independent has reported on the relationship extensively, documenting the destruction Irpin suffered – with eyewitness accounts as the only news team from Wisconsin to report from the frontlines, and about the recovery work that has continued since the city was liberated from Russian occupation in March 2022.
A SYMBOL OF REBUILDING, NOT JUST COMMERCE
While the opening of a fast-food restaurant might seem minor in most cities, for Irpin, it is layered with meaning. The decision by McDonald’s — an international brand known for evaluating geopolitical risk — to open in a city once under siege signals something larger: confidence.
Confidence in the city’s security, in its infrastructure, and in its ability to return to normal life — or at least, to a new version of it.
No official ribbon-cutting date has been announced, but construction is underway. When the restaurant opens, it will be a place to eat, to work, and for many residents, to mark a moment — not of forgetting what happened, but of reclaiming what comes next.
© Photo
Angela Makeeva / City of Irpin
