Faced with mounting
Russian aggression, a Ukrainian brewery has decided to stop selling beer and make
Molotov cocktails instead. Pravda brewery, located in west Ukraine’s urban
centre Lviv, has decided to make Molotov cocktails to help civilians joining
the war effort, according to an AFP report.

Training his comrades
in Molotov combat is one of the employees of Pravda. “You have to wait for the
cloth to be well soaked. When it is, that means the Molotov cocktail is ready,”
he said, while pushing a cloth deep into a bottle containing a mixture of oil
and petrol.

Also Read | Ukraine: Google Maps disables features, citizens alter road signs to halt Russians

Yuris Zastavny,
the owner of Pravda brewery, knows full well that these Molotov cocktails will
not measure up if and when the Russian tanks roll in, but for him putting up the
resistance has inherent significance. “We do this because someone has to. We
have the skills. We went through a street revolution in 2014,” Zastavny was
quoted by AFP as saying.

The brewery owner’s
reference is to the 2014 protests in Ukraine that ousted pro-Kremlin Viktor
Yanukovych. The protests ended with West-backed Petro Poroshenko coming to
power.

Also Read | US governors order boycott of Russian vodka in solidarity with Ukraine

This is not the
first time that the Pravda brewery is fighting the Russians. In fact, the brewery
hosts a beer named “Putin khuylo” – an insult directed at Russian President
Vladimir Putin which evolved as a slogan during the 2014 protests. Several of
the brewery’s employees had participated in the protests.

Also Read | Explained: What role does religion play in the Russia-Ukraine conflict?

The decision to
make Molotov cocktails was arrived at to answer President Zelensky’s call to
civilians to take up arms against the Russians. Thousands of Ukrainians have
joined the Territorial Defence Forces made up of reservists. Zelensky has said
the next 24 hours will be crucial.