Recognition of the Holodomor genocide

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

On 9 December 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Soviet Ukraine signed the document in 1949 and ratified it in 1954.

At the state level

1993 year

  • Estonia

    20 October 1993

    In condemning the Communist policy of genocide in Ukraine, … the Estonian people stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and, together with them, remember the terrible sacrifices of the genocides of 1932 and 1933.

    and that millions more lost their lives in the purges that unfolded over the following decade; notes that this constituted one of the most horrific manifestations of genocide in history; calls on the Government of Australia to support the UN General Assembly resolution … recognising the Holodomor … as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian nation and its people.

    Statement by the House of Representatives

    dated 22 February 2008

    In condemning the Communist policy of genocide in Ukraine, … the Estonian people stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and, together with them, remember the terrible sacrifices of the genocides of 1932 and 1933.

    and that millions more lost their lives in the purges that unfolded over the following decade; notes that this constituted one of the most horrific manifestations of genocide in history; calls on the Australian Government to support the UN General Assembly resolution … recognising the Holodomor … as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian nation and its people.

    Statement by the House of Representatives

    dated 22 February 2008
  • Australia

    28 November 1993

    The man-made famine in Ukraine was caused by the deliberate actions of the Stalinist Communist regime of the USSR … according to estimates, 7 million Ukrainians died of starvation as a result of Stalin’s policies in 1932–33. … This event became one of the most horrific manifestations of genocide in history.

    Senate Resolution

    dated 28 October 1993 and 31 October 2003

2003 year

  • Canada

    20 June 2003

    We call for the recognition of the Ukrainian Famine/Genocide of 1932–33 and for the condemnation of any attempts to deny or distort this historical truth, which was nothing less than genocide.

    Senate Resolution

    dated 20 June 2003

2005 year

  • Lithuania

    24 November 2005

    The Sejm recognises that, in 1932–1933, Stalin’s Communist regime carried out a deliberate, meticulously planned genocide against the Ukrainian people.

    Statement by the Sejm

    dated 24 November 2005

2006 year

  • Poland

    16 March 2006

    The Senate of the Republic of Poland stands in solidarity with Ukraine’s position on the need to recognise the Great Famine of 1932–1933 as an act of genocide.

    Senate Resolution and Act of the Sejm

    dated 16 March 2006 and 4 December 2006

At the international level

2007 year

  • The Baltic Assembly

    24 November 2007

    The Baltic Assembly … expresses its deepest sympathy to the victims of genocide and political repression, as well as to the entire Ukrainian people, who have endured this suffering.

    Statement

    dated 24 November 2007

2008 year

  • Ecumenical Patriarch

    20 November 2008

    The surviving historical documents of the former Soviet Union are replete with information regarding the nationality of those who were repressed. The overwhelming majority of those killed, imprisoned or deported were Ukrainians — and, moreover, nationally conscious Ukrainians or landowners. … In world history, throughout the entire existence of humankind, there has never been a tragedy in which more people from a single nation were killed in a single year of peace than were killed over several years of war. And whatever anyone may say, however much they may try to downplay the evil, this is a clear sign of genocide.

    Message from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I

    dated 20 November 2008

2022 year

  • European Parliament

    15 December 2022

    Members of the European Parliament strongly condemn these actions, which led to the deaths of millions of Ukrainians, and call on all countries and organisations that have not yet done so to follow their example and recognise it as genocide.

    European Parliament resolution

    dated 15 December 2022

2023 year

  • PACE

    12 October 2023

    In light of these considerations, the Assembly resolves to recognise the Holodomor as an act of genocide aimed at destroying the foundations of the Ukrainian nation, language and culture, and pays tribute to the memory of its victims

    Resolution

    dated 12 October 2023

Useful links

Take a look at the primary sources that formed the basis
for the legal assessment of the Holodomor.