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STORY: Some former KFC restaurants began reopening in Russia on Tuesday (April 25).

But it isn't quite the same as it was before Russia invaded Ukraine.

While a franchise agreement means the KFC name will live on, the eateries have new owners.

And many have taken on the name Rostic's - a brand born after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Last week, KFC's parent company Yum! Brands finalized its exit from the country, and transferred its master franchise rights to Russian firm Smart Service.

The deal included all of its KFC restaurants there, and the trademark for the Rostic's brand.

Smart Service co-founder Konstantin Kotov:

"All the recipes in our menu are being kept the same. If you go and look now at the technology and the dishes that we prepare, they repeat the KFC menu one-for-one."

Rostic's launched in 1993 and was later bought by KFC.

The U.S. brand had more than 1,000 restaurants in the country before announcing plans to leave last year.

Kotov said he would would not force franchisees to drop the KFC name and become Rostic's, though it was preferable

"Our task is to encourage our partners to move over to Rostic’s, because we believe that future plans and development opportunities are possible only within Rostic’s."

The rebrand is similar to what happened with former McDonald's restaurants last year.

They were also taken over by a local licensee and rebranded as Vkusno & tochka, or 'Tasty & that's it'.

Yum! Brands did not immediately respond to a request for comment.