A drone struck a warehouse on September 25 located in the Kyiv region, where food for McDonald’s was stored.
This led to visible effects for customers. As the company stated, its restaurants began offering a limited menu.
However, it was not the first American brand affected. There have been several cases of this sort recently, which did not receive much reaction from the US authorities.
President Andy Hunder of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine spoke to CNN, stating that Russian drones and missiles have caused damage to Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, McDonald's, and Oreo facilities.
The reports by the companies are quite concrete. According to PepsiCo, in late August, one of their facilities in the Mykolaiv area was damaged, with no casualties.
On September 3rd, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated that a Russian drone had damaged one of Coca-Cola's facilities located outside of Kyiv. Zelensky viewed this attack as a message to America.
This interpretation comes from Zelensky and Hunder. None of the analyzed reports contained a response from Russia on the matter, nor was there any information that Moscow targeted these locations because they were American.
According to Hunder, the list is new. Russia has tried deterring American business in the past, but according to his CNN interview, this one stands out among those attempted recently.
Hunder also took issue with the American government's response. "We don't see any reaction from the White House here," he explained.
According to him, it is hard for him to fathom the absence of any response considering the way the administration has positioned itself. His chamber requested meetings with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner regarding the latest attacks last month, and there was no response.
This becomes even more noticeable given how Washington has responded to Ukraine's own attacks. The administration has increased its demands that Kyiv stop bombarding Russian refineries in order to protect US consumers.
President Donald Trump has said that the Ukrainian bombardment of Russian refineries was responsible for increasing gasoline prices due to the US-Iran war.
This demand goes beyond mere rhetoric. According to sources cited by CNN, the US has threatened Ukraine with a cutoff of intelligence and ammunition if such attacks persist.
According to CNN, President Trump announced a deal with Russia last Friday, where he plans to waive sanctions and purchase Russian diesel in defiance of US law. This claim was also supported by Mezha—a Ukrainian technology news website.
The administration at the White House has been silent regarding the attacks on US interests. A White House spokesperson noted that President Trump desires the war to come to a halt so that the killings will cease.
He believes that peace talks can take place, and the US has the perfect opportunity to speak to both parties.
In August 2025, the president openly admitted that he had told Mr. Putin that he was “not happy” with Russia’s bombing of a US electronics plant. There has been no such comment this time around.
Not all U.S. companies are clamoring for the same action. According to a former high-ranking U.S. State Department official, the U.S. businesses are not unified in how much they want the topic discussed. They would prefer to keep secret that they are targeted time and again.
Hunder reported that some U.S. businesses prefer that this issue be highlighted, but other businesses are very cautious.
Political pressure is mounting. Several members of the Democratic Party have openly called for the White House to act more assertively to safeguard the interests of U.S. companies in Ukraine and to expose Russia.
This offers an opportunity for Ukraine to build its case. The Ukrainian leadership has stressed such attacks as yet another reason for increasing defense assistance to ensure that American firms are protected from harm.
However, this reasoning is contradicted by the interests of the White House.
Washington is insisting that Ukraine refrain from conducting strikes against Russian energy facilities but expects the country to withstand Russian strikes on infrastructure.
