President Dmitri Medvedev (1965- )
Moscow, 14 November 2008 (RIA-Novosti):
President Medvedev accused Kiev of using the Stalin-era famine to drive a wedge between the Ukraine and Russia and urged efforts to forge a common position on the tragedy. In a letter to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko released by the Kremlin on Friday, President Medvedev said Kiev’s position meant he could not attend any event to commemorate the famine, known [to Ukrainian nationalists] as the “Holodomor”, in the Ukraine due later this month.
“The Ukraine has used the tragic events of the early 1930s to achieve its political ends”, Mr Medvedev said, adding these efforts are “aimed at disuniting our nations, which for centuries were linked by historical, cultural, and spiritual bonds, special friendship and mutual trust”. Mr Medvedev suggested that the two countries should start seeking common approaches to the events, and invite experts from Kazakhstan, Belarus, and other ex-Soviet states affected by the famine to join the effort. “At the moment, however, I do not believe my participation in ‘Holodomor’ commemoration events is possible”, Mr Medvedev said.
Ukrainian President Yushchenko declared that 2008 the year to commemorate the “Holodomor”, which some in the country’s leadership insist was an act of genocide against the Ukraine by the Soviet authorities. Estimates vary widely as to the number of deaths in Ukraine caused by the forced collectivisation of the early 1930s, along with devastating purges of Ukrainian intelligentsia, religious leaders, and politicians under Stalin. Some sources cite figures of over 7 million. Moscow rejected Kiev’s interpretation of the tragedy, saying that besides the Ukraine, the famine also affected different ethnic groups in vast territories in the North Caucasus, the Volga region, central Russia, Kazakhstan, western Siberia, and the southern Urals.
The United Nations General Committee refused last month to include the “Holodomor” on its agenda, supporting Russia’s recommendation to exclude the famine from the UN session. The European Parliament adopted a resolution in October declaring the famine of 1932-1933 as a crime “against humanity”, but, it stopped short of using the word “genocide”. In July 2008, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe also condemned the famine without recognising it as an act of genocide. The leaders of Poland, Georgia, and the Baltic States officially announced they will attend a forum on the famine in Kiev on 22 November, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said last week. Other “Holodomor” commemoration events are scheduled for 17 through 22 November.
RIA-Novosti
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081114/118303255.html (in English)
Editor’s Note:
The so-called “Holodomor” story is a phoney and ginned-up falsification of Galician Uniate khokholi (I am speaking only of the loudmouths in this respect). It is supported only by Uniate-financed fronts in the Galician diaspora, and no decent and thinking person would support such bilious rot. Yes, there was a famine in the early 30s, but, it was spread throughout the Soviet Union, the result of collectivisation. This propaganda spits on all the victims who happened not to be Ukrainian.
If you hear anything saying that the Russians planned the “Holodomor” to exterminate Ukrainians, disbelieve it, and say it loud! Such sorts deserve no quarter!
