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imageMOSCOW: Russian authorities seem to have scented blood as they show no sign of halting a clampdown on US chain McDonald's, launched after the West slapped sanctions on Moscow over its meddling in Ukraine.

Ten outlets of the symbolic American eatery are now closed, McDonald's said Wednesday, months after the country's consumer watchdog began inspections at almost half of the burger giant's 451 restaurants nationwide.

The hit to operations -- compounded by the closure of three branches on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, snatched by Moscow from Ukraine in March -- contributed to a miserable third-quarter for the global behemoth, as profits slipped on the back of a quality-control scandal in China and tougher US competition.

McDonald's woes began in August when Russia's food safety agency Rospotrebnadzor launched inspections at over 200 outlets across the country over alleged "consumer fraud".

The move came after the US and EU ramped up sanctions against the Kremlin as East-West relations plunged to their lowest since the Cold War over Moscow's backing for a separatist rebellion tearing apart east Ukraine.

Russia responded by slapping embargoes on most food products from the West but that appears to have been just for starters.

Local media has widely seen the crackdown on McDonald's as further retaliation against the Western sanctions that hit Russia's already faltering economy.

Kommersant daily reported that Rospotrebnadzor's offensive is being carried out under the Kremlin's orders.

McDonald's meanwhile says that it has got a raw deal and is appealing the court decisions to close its branches.

"We will do everything possible to continue the succesful work of our company in Russia," McDonald's said in a statement Wednesday.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2014

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