A farmer from Fife who lives in Ukraine with his family has shared how he is making Molotov cocktails to help fight off invading Russian forces.
Born in St Andrews, Peter Thomson has lived in southern Ukraine since March 1993, where he runs a company which farms around 50,000 acres of land.
Normally planning his yearly crops like oilseed rape and sunflowers, the farmer has now joined other locals who have been forced to defend their country from Russian forces.
Peter and his family have left their home in Odesa and are now living south of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, as a result of the war.
Speaking on the Telegraph’s Chopper’s Politics podcast, the farmer said he had spent time with his daughter making deadly Molotov cocktail bombs.
“We are all preparing to fight, one way or another.
“My daughter and I spent an hour or two this morning making Molotov cocktails from the petrol that’s usually used for the lawnmower, and took them down to the local territorial defence people,” he said.
The father and daughter pair turned 20 wine bottles into petrol bombs, passing them to defence groups who have set up a roadblock on the way into the village where they are living.
“We took down our contribution in Molotov cocktails which are very effective against the armoured vehicles.
“In happier times I make quite a lot of cider at home, so we use those bottles which are quite a good vessel for keeping Molotov cocktails,” Peter said.
Four of Peter’s farms are now in territory newly occupied by the Russians, he told the podcast, with around 400 of his employees affected.
Asked what he would do if he came across Russian tanks, Peter said he would be willing to fight.
“I don’t have any firearms, I’ve started carrying a fairly big hunting knife with me. I don’t know what use that is against a tank, but it’s there anyway,” he added.
While he is still currently working to keep his farms, Peter said: “I need to be available pretty much 24 hours a day as long as there’s something there to work for.
“There may come a time when that all goes and we need to go and fight and we will do it.”
The Fife farmer, who still has a British passport, would be entitled to return to Scotland but said he would struggle to leave behind his friends and employees who couldn’t come with him.
“I don’t know if I could live with myself for doing that.
“I’d rather be somewhere else, but here we are,” he added.
