UKRAINE
Brewery switches to Molotov cocktails with labels calling Putin a d***head
A Ukrainian brewery has converted its beer production line into a Molotov cocktail factory as the country braces for fresh advances by Russian troops.
President Zelensky’s government urged civilians to pitch in by making the improvised petrol bombs over the weekend, as military experts anticipate drawn-out guerilla warfare between invading forces and pockets of resistance.
Families across the country worked through the nights pouring any flammable liquids they could get their hands on into spare bottles and sealing them with cloth wicks.
Pravda Brewery said locals were helping its workers make bombs using bottles from one of their most successful craft beers, labelled ‘Putin is a d***head’.
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The slogan refers to a football chant mocking the Russian president which became popular in the wake of his 2014 invasion of Crimea.
The contents of the bottle, which normally contains an 8% Belgian Strong Golden Ale, are described as ‘combining bitterness with a sweet taste’.
Calling the bombs his ‘very special bottling’, head brewer Yuri Zastavny said: ‘We can bottle beer later.’
Molotov cocktails, which create a fireball when the bottle breaks on impact, are a staple of urban warfare due to their ease of use.
Many Ukrainians have been making more advanced versions of the bomb using shredded styrofoam which can help the flames attach to targets.
In cities like Lviv and Dnipro, which have yet to fall under siege, crowds of women were seen huddled together over improvised production lines while local fighting-age men were fighting or training as conscripts.
A teacher named Arina told BBC News: ‘Nobody thought that this was how we would spend our weekend.
‘Nobody thought but now we’re doing this and it seems like the only important thing to do now.’
‘We can’t just live our ordinary lives if we are safe, we have to do something.’
