Uproar as Moscow threatens to ban kebabs

Moscow authorities appear to be backing down after an announcement to outlaw the city’s beloved shawarma and kebab kiosks over health code violations sparked a vibrant online campaign.

Hours after Department of Trade and Services head Alexey Nemeryuk said that street vendors were to be banned in the Russian capital, the protest hashtag #ШаурмаЖиви (Shawarma Lives) became a trending topic on Twitter.

Calling the impending ban “Shawarmageddon” or “Shawarma-genocide!,” social media users urged the Moscow city council not to deprive them of the popular Middle Eastern snack.

Meat lovers in the Russian capital uploaded pictures, videos and memes of superheroes, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Virgin Mary embracing shawarma.

https://twitter.com/Kristinka_LU/status/724983932794580992

#ШаурмаЖиви pic.twitter.com/KeqONgBAdv

— Татар (@Marsel_tat) April 26, 2016

https://twitter.com/_Anna_Cap_/status/724985738501193728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The Avengers love Shawarma.#Shawarma pic.twitter.com/qq9PKFolz2

— Comicdcm (@Comicdcm1) April 17, 2016

Some users made fake endorsements from Russian President Vladimir Putin to drum up support for the shawarma campaign.

Some countries have color revolutions, Russia has #ШаурмаЖиви pic.twitter.com/DrBR5JlGJp

— Boris Zilberman (@rolltidebmz) April 26, 2016

Others likened the announced ban to the Islamic State terrorist group or Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin to Ivan the Terrible, who infamously killed his son.

#шаурмаживи pic.twitter.com/eDo5ydPA8P

— ПСИХОТРОННЫЙ ЦЕНТР (@lishainik) January 26, 2015

Собянин убивает шаурму, 2016 г. pic.twitter.com/AhNKtTUxFM

— Никотинка с Бровями (@Yoghikitt) April 26, 2016

Last week, Nemeryuk told Russian radio station Komsomolskaya Pravda, “We are ridding the streets of all shawarma. It’s going to disappear completely.”

Nemeryuk later told a local TV station his comments had been misinterpreted, claiming he wasn’t calling for a ban on all stalls, just one in particular.