The head of the Verkhovna Rada called on French senators to recognize the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people

3 February 2023

Head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, speaking in the French Senate on February 1, called on his French colleagues to recognize the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine as a genocide of Ukrainians. The press service of the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine reported it.

“As a result of the genocidal actions of the Stalinist regime, millions of Ukrainians died due to an artificially and intentionally organized famine,” Ruslan Stefanchuk emphasized. — Right now, a signal from France about the recognition of the Holodomor would be crucial since the events of 1932-1933 confirm the determination of the then Stalinist and now Putin’s Russia to destroy Ukrainian identity throughout modern history. I would like to call on everyone present to support the draft resolution on the recognition of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide of the Ukrainian people, which was presented by Ms Senator Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam, who is also the Chair of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and the head of the France-Ukraine Friendship Group of the Senate, Ms Nadia Solohub.”

The speaker of the Ukrainian parliament also urged his French colleagues not to succumb to Russian propaganda and disinformation, the purpose of which is to distort reality and whitewash crimes.

“Let’s not give in to Moscow’s disinformation, which has deep historical roots!” he emphasized citing a story from the past as an example:”

“I remembered another very eloquent case from the thirties of the last century when Stalin starved Ukrainians to death. Archive documents tell about the arrival in Ukraine of the famous French politician Edouard Herriot in the past, who did not see hunger there because his route was specially arranged exclusively through exemplary villages and collective farms.”

At the same time, the head of the Verkhovna Rada called on senators to recognize Russia as a terrorist state for its current crimes, as the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe and NATO, the parliaments and governments of other countries have done.

“Only the irreversibility of the punishment will make it impossible to repeat such crimes in the future,” the head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is convinced.

Photo – press service of the Verkhovna Rada.