Molotov cocktails got their name when Finnish people mocked Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov during the 1939 Soviet invasion of Finland.
What is a Molotov cocktail and why are they being used in Ukraine?
https://www.jpost.com/-By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A civilian trains to throw Molotov cocktails to defend the city, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, in Zhytomyr, Ukraine March 1, 2022 (photo credit: Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters)
A Molotov cocktail is a simple incendiary weapon usually made by putting a flammable item like a cloth or rag in a bottle of fuel, usually alcohol or gasoline. The fuel-soaked item is lit like a fuse and the bottle is thrown.
Molotov cocktails were first used by nationalist partisans during the Spanish Civil War, when they were thrown at government tanks, according to National Geographic.
Then, they got their name when, in 1939, Finnish citizens jokingly coined them “Molotov’s bread baskets,” referring to Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov, after he claimed that Soviet aircraft invading Finland were delivering food rather than bombs, NatGeo added.
Now, average citizens in Ukraine are using Molotov cocktails as makeshift weapons to fight against Russian invaders.
One retired economist in Kyiv showed a CNN reporter an arsenal of Molotovs that she built based on instructions she found online, the NatGeo report noted.
The cocktails have been popular among insurgents, rebels, and guerillas over the decades, in part, because they are very inexpensive and easy to make using common household items.