MOSCOW, August 21./ITAR-TASS/. Russia's food safety watchdog has revealed food storage violations at five McDonald's restaurants in Moscow, the hygiene agency said in a statement on Thursday.

On Wednesday, supervisory body Rospotrebnadzor filed administrative lawsuits against four McDonald’s restaurants in Moscow. Snap inspections from August 18-20 revealed many violations of sanitary regulations, the agency said, adding that legal proceedings had begun ahead of court hearings.

The regulator said branches on Pushkin Square, the first McDonald's opened in Russia in 1990, and Manezh Square would be temporarily shut as part of an ongoing investigation into the chain's food standards.

Sanitary violations were also detected at McDonald's outlets on Svobodny Prospect and Prospect Mira in central Moscow, but the restaurants’ operations were not suspended.