St. Petersburg bar closed after founder criticized pro-Russian separatist Motorola

The C1TIZEN bar has been closed in St. Petersburg after its founder and chef Gregory Pashukevich made an offensive post on Facebook about killed pro-Russian separatist commander Arseny Pavlov, nicknamed Motorola. Pashukevich announced that his bar had been closed on his page in social network VKontakte.

"We would like to apologize to those whom [we] have offended or upset," read his post.

Pashukevich's post about Motorola had caught the attention of Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondent Dmitry Steshin, who tweeted about the post. After Steshin's tweet, users began posting negative reviews on C1TIZEN's Facebook page. 

Pashukevich deleted his Facebook post about Motorola shortly thereafter.

On October 18, C1TIZEN announced on its Facebook page that Pashukevich was no longer its cook.

On October 16, 2016, pro-Russian separatist commander Arsen Pavlov, nicknamed Motorola, was killed in the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk in an explosion in an elevator.

Pavlov participated in the battles for Ilovaysk and Donetsk airport. He was also a public figure in the Donestk separatist movement, as stories about him often appeared on national television.

In Ukraine, he was suspected of war crimes. Ukrainian authorities tried to have him put on Interpol's wanted list, though consent was not given. Pavlov's name did appear on the European Union's sanctions list, however.