A Quebec restaurant that claims to have invented poutine has dropped the name of its most famous dish from some of its branding because the meal shares a name with Russia鈥檚 president.

Drummondville, Que., diner Le Roy Jucep announced last week on Facebook it was temporarily removing the word 鈥減outine鈥� from some of its online branding to express its 鈥渄eep dismay鈥� over the Russian army鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine.

鈥淭herefore, as of now, we鈥檙e the inventor of the fries cheese gravy,鈥� the post read.

In French, Russian President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 last name is written and pronounced 鈥淧outine鈥� 鈥� the same as Quebec鈥檚 signature dish.

The restaurant has since deleted the post, but its Facebook page still describes it as the inventor of the 鈥渇ries cheese gravy鈥� rather than poutine.

While the move has drawn both positive and negative reactions online, the diner shared a video on its Facebook page of a woman in Ukraine who appeared on Radio-Canada and thanked the restaurant for the gesture.

鈥淚f we were able to make someone smile over there, it鈥檚 already a win!鈥� the restaurant wrote on Facebook.

鈥淲e are with you with all our hearts.鈥�

The restaurant did not respond for a request for comment on Wednesday.

Poutine was invented in Quebec in the 1950s or 1960s, and the founder of Le Roy Jucep is among those who claim to have created the fast-food staple.

Sylvain Charlebois, director of Dalhousie University鈥檚 agri-food analytics lab and author of the book 鈥淧outine Nation,鈥� said that while the word 鈥減outine鈥� originated in Warwick, Que., in the late 1950s, it was Jean-Paul Roy of Le Roy Jucep who first mixed gravy into the dish.

In an interview on Wednesday, Charlebois said it鈥檚 unclear how poutine first got its name. One legend suggests it was a trucker who asked the restaurant to 鈥減ut in鈥� the cheese with the fries, he said, while another suggests it鈥檚 a take on 鈥減udding鈥� because it is a mixture of ingredients. Other dishes in France and Acadia also bear the name, he added.

While poutine鈥檚 name clearly has nothing to do with Vladimir Putin, Charlebois said they both became internationally famous at around the same time, and he thinks the Russian president may have at least helped some people learn how to say the dish鈥檚 name properly.

鈥淭he pronunciation of the dish itself, I think, got easier when President Putin landed on the world stage,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 actually do think he might have helped people, because in French it鈥檚 the same spelling, the same pronunciation.鈥�

鈥擬organ Lowrie,The Canadian Press