ntil this week Daniel Mediakovskyi was a history student in the Ukrainian city of Lviv. Since Sunday, however, he has been sticking rubber bands and plastic tops on to homemade bombs. “It’s practical history. It’s time for this right now,” he explained, loading another molotov cocktail into a crate.
“My parents know I’m volunteering. I haven’t told my granny. She’s worried enough about things already,” he admitted. He acknowledged that a molotov wouldn’t stop the mighty Russian army. But he stressed: “It will break Russian soldiers mentally, and show them they are not welcome here.”One of the molotovs fell off the table-top and smashed. The team cleared off for 10 minutes, allowing time for the noxious fumes to disperse. A ground-floor window had been propped open to improve ventilation.
In Lviv, a former industrial complex used as a creative hub and rave space has been transformed into an improvised molotov factory. In one corner of the basement are stacks of bottles, some bearing stickers saying: “Apple juice, 1997”. In another, flowery linen squares, to be torn into strips and used as fuses.