An improvised incendiarybomb made simply by filling a glass bottle with fuel or any flammable substance, sealing it with a piece of cloth and then lighting the cloth on fire when used. The bottle is tossed at the target, which immediately is covered by the burning fuel after the bottle breaks upon contact.
It has been used in violent riots, by different gangs and various non-state combatants different parts of the world.
Its common name comes from an insulting reference from Finnish soldier (who used the "cocktail" to great effect during the Winter war, and later World War II) to Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, who was responsible for the partition of Finland during Joseph Stalin's regime. At one point, Molotov claimed that the bombing campaign during the Winter war was a "humanitarian operation", which spawned a sarcastic remarks among the Finnish population referring to the Soviet bombs as "Molotov's basket". Molotov himself, obviously, highly disliked the name.
