The history of the Molotov cocktail, an iconic weapon of underdogs
Ukrainians race to make the bombs now, just like the many rebels, protestors, and defenders worldwide who came before them.
In the Ukrainian city of Lviv, students and artists make Molotov cocktails in an industrial space that used to host raves. In a suburb of Kyiv, a retired economist shows a CNN reporter her stock of the incendiary devices, explaining that she built them after searching for instructions on Google. In Dnipro, women gather outside to assemble the makeshift bombs.
“It seems like the only important thing to do now,” says a local teacher.
Citizens all over Europe’s largest country are preparing vast quantities of Molotov cocktails to fight off Russian forces. For nearly a century, the device—called also a petrol bomb or a gasoline bomb—has been the most accessible weapon for underdogs fighting
