What is a Molotov cocktail?

UKRAINIAN civilians are being urged to make Molotov cocktails as Russian troops invade their country — but what are they?

With Putin's army closing in on the capital of Kyiv, the country's Ministry of Defence urged its citizens to make DIY petrol bombs.

What is a Molotov cocktail?

Molotov cocktail is a generic name given to a petrol bomb.

The improvised explosive is relatively easy to make.

They are often used in riots and uprisings and have become a symbol of revolution. 

But they are illegal to make in the UK under the Explosive Substances Act.

When have they been used before?

The name was coined by the Finnish during their war with Soviet Russia in 1939.

It is believed they were called Molotov as a reference to Vyacheslav Molotov due to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.

This was a deal between Russia and Nazi Germany that saw Poland divided between the two countries and Finland into the Soviet sphere of influence. 

But Molotov cocktails were used before the Winter War, most notably in the Spanish Civil war three years earlier. 

Molotov cocktails are relatively easy to produce, meaning they have become popular weapons for rioters, criminals, terrorists and football hooligans

But have also been used by soldiers when supply of traditional weaponry has been low.

The British public made Molotov cocktails en masse at the start of the Second World War, with citizens intending to use them against Nazi tanks in the event of a land invasion.