Molotov Cocktail / Kokteili Molotova

A Molotov Cocktail is the common name for an improvised incendiary weapon that, when struck against a hard surface, shatters and ignites. The composition of this incendiary and cheerful "cocktail", as a rule, includes gasoline, kerosene and fuel oil. "Molotov cocktails" need to be thrown at certain places in the equipment. The incendiary mixture " Molotov Cocktail " can be made at home. Since such a bomb is easy to make, it is often used during guerrilla and street wars, civil disobedience actions. Today, the main use of such bottles is street fighting and protests. From Ukraine to Palestine.

The Molotov cocktail mixture was invented by the Finnish partisans in honor of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Vyacheslav Molotov. Finns used cocktails during the Winter War of 1939-1940 against the Soviet troops who invaded Finland. On the first day of the Soviet-Finnish war, November 30, 1939, Soviet aircraft bombed the residential areas of Helsinki. In response to the protests of European countries, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, Vyacheslav Molotov, said that not bombs were dropped on the city, but bags of bread for the starving residents. In defiance of this, the Finns called Molotov cocktails "Molotov cocktails", which they later used against Soviet tanks.

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, has a very indirect relation to this diabolical invention. This cocktail appeared during the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. The Finns did not care about ammunition, they came up with the idea of pouring an incendiary mixture into bottles and named it after a famous politician. At first it turned out like this - "a cocktail for Molotov." Then the Western press simplified the name, and it turned out that the cocktail was allegedly invented by Molotov.

With bottles filled with this incendiary mixture, the Soviet defenders of Moscow went after Nazi tanks. In the Red Army, the invention also took root and was in demand already in the first days of the Great Patriotic War. On July 7, 1941, the State Defense Committee adopted a resolution "On anti-tank incendiary grenades (bottles)", which detailed how to produce and supply troops with incendiary grenades. And on August 2, 1941, Stalin approved the "instruction for the use of incendiary bottles."

Nowadays, some journalists, believing that they demonstrate their erudition, call everything that burns a "Molotov cocktail." For example, at the opening (or closing) of the Olympic Games in Turin, the leading reportage reported that it was the Molotov cocktail that was burning behind the motorcyclists who were passing in a solemn procession around the stadium. The absurdity of such speeches, knowing the above, can be fully appreciated. As a rule, these people do not know anything about the policy of the Soviet people's commissar, but millions of people still remember Vyacheslav Mikhailovich's cocktail.

The most common incendiary mixture recipes:

1. modern recipe - ¾ gasoline for ¼ oil, 10-20 ml tar;
2. recipe Che Guevara - ¾ gasoline for ¼ oil;
3. Vazovsky recipe - 2/4 gasoline, ¼ oil, ¼ ethyl alcohol + 10-20 grams of a dry mixture of fine aluminum and iron filings in a thin-walled glass ampoule;
4. Finnish recipe - 10-20 ml of tar is added to gasoline;
5. Soviet recipe - equal parts of gasoline, kerosene and naphtha, inflammation - a thin-walled ampoule with a mixture of sulfuric acid, bartolet salt and powdered sugar;
6. French recipe - gasoline and acetone are mixed in a 1: 1 ratio, 50 ml of turpentine are added, then crushed polystyrene foam is gradually dissolved in the mixture until a thick syrup is formed;
7. Turkish recipe - 70% gasoline, 10% paraffin, 20% lubricant;
8. Odessa recipe (a variant of the French; used, in particular, during the fights on Grushevsky Street) - 70% gasoline, 30% crushed polystyrene, dissolved to the maximum possible concentration in acetone;
9. The Right Sector recipe is to rub laundry soap into shavings, dissolve in gasoline or diesel fuel heated in a water or sand bath, add aluminum powder. Such a mixture can melt through steel;
10. recipe "UNA-UNSO" - bituminous mastic is diluted with white spirit to the desired consistency and poured into thin-walled bottles.

In 2022 the Ukrainian authorities urged city dwellers to stop the enemy by any means. It was advised to prepare a Molotov cocktail. It acts as an igniter capable of destroying vehicles and is safe to use. Ukrainian culinary specialist and TV presenter Evgeny Klopotenko told how to prepare a Molotov cocktail in order to "greet dear guests from Russia who came to save Ukrainians." In Kyiv, employees of a beer store donate bottles for Molotov cocktails to fighters from the territorial defense.

The National Guard of Ukraine has published a useful infographic for citizens on how to neutralize Russian military equipment using Molotov cocktails. The infographic was published on the department's Facebook page. As seen in the photo, with the help of "Molotov cocktails" you can neutralize the BTR-82A, military trucks, armored vehicles "Typhoon" and "Tiger".

1. Gasoline. When the mixture is ready, add gasoline in a ratio of 1:1. OOthers suggest mixing 2/3 gasoline with 1/3 oil.
2. Glass bottle , 0.5 or even 0.7 liters or 1 liter. Bottles with thin walls break more easily - and this is necessary for the Molotov cocktail to work. Soviet-type vodka bottles are good, wine or beer bottles are worse. Other sources suggest using bottles with thick walls. For example, bottles of wine, champagne or whiskey.
3. Rag as a wick. Usually this is a strip 10-15 centimeters thick and 20-35 cm long. In no case should it be a synthetic fabric, only cotton. Synthetic may partially dissolve. In addition, once ignited, synthetics burn out very quickly and can burn out before the cocktail reaches its target. The strip of fabric is inserted so that about half is inside the bottle, then it is saturated with the mixture. The other half should be soaked in the same liquid separately. In the simplest case, the free end of the wick simply hangs down and ignites. To increase the safety of the user of the projectile, the fabric strip is not completely wetted. The part that goes at the neck of the bottle remains dry . The wetted part should be taped to the bottle with tape so as not to get burned during the throw.
4. Acetone. Instead, engine oil can be used. Styrofoam (from balls) is added to acetone (100 ml) in such an amount that a thick syrup is formed. It is added to gasoline in the ratio 1:1 + 1/3 lubricant.
5. Styrofoam needs to be broken into small pieces. Styrofoam, already consisting of small balls, is well suited. In order for the cocktail to be more effective and burn longer, it is not gasoline that needs to be made hotter and more concentrated, but something like napalm. In the simplest case, just gasoline is used. In this case, it quickly burns out, does not stick to the surface of the object. To increase the time and temperature of combustion, as well as the adhesion of the incendiary mixture to the object, the so-called napalm is made.
6. Cork, preferably dense, if the process of making and launching a Molotov cocktail is foreseen to be safe, then they will also be needed.

Styrofoam is added to acetone and stirred until dissolved. About 100 g of acetone is enough to start, and the foam is added to form a thick syrup. Styrofoam may require much more than it seems at first glance. Then gasoline is added to the "syrup" in a ratio of 1:1. The mixture burns very well and for a long time, sticking tightly at the point of impact of the projectile - to almost any surface. Some types of foam plastic dissolve better and more evenly immediately in a mixture of gasoline and acetone.

Home-made "napalm" literally decomposes into layers in one day: heavier elements settle at the bottom, it is easier to find themselves at the top. Then it turns into just a mixture of its elements. The bottle is filled with liquid approximately 3/4 or less in case of lack of mixture. If the projectile is not used immediately, the bottle is tightly closed with a cork or a metal twist. Since the mixture breaks up with storage, the Molotov cocktail becomes less and less effective with every hour.

The main thing is that there are no sources of open fire nearby. Secondly, gasoline and acetone fumes are hazardous to health. Therefore, the manufacture is recommended to be carried out in the open air, as a last resort, in ventilated rooms. After making the Molotov cocktail, hands should be washed well, and gloves should be worn when using.

Before using the part that is not in the bottle, set it on fire and throw it in the right direction. To prevent the cocktail from catching fire in your hands, wipe it with alcohol and let it dry. In addition, do not completely wet the strip of cloth in the substance, but leave a little dry at the neck of the bottle.

The fabric is flammable and does not go out in the wind. It is necessary to light a good lighter - it is better not to go out in the wind. It needs to be thrown high and hard. The bottle should break on impact.

To dazzle a tank, the Molotov cocktail must impress its optical instruments and the inspection slit. To make the combustible mixture stick to the optical devices and melt them, tar should be added to the Molotov cocktail (about 10-20 milliliters per 0.5 liter bottle. The running engine sucks in air and quickly sucks in a Molotov cocktail. To impress the engine, it is necessary to get into the ventilation grilles behind the tower. To do this, the thrower must be on the side or rear of the tank. This is possible only in the conditions of urban guerrillas.