According to some estimates, up to 10 million Ukrainians, or nearly one-third of the then Soviet republic's population, starved to death during the 1932-33 famine, known in the country as Holodomor, caused by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's drive to collectivize farms in the land once known as the USSR's breadbasket.
The bill, tabled by President Viktor Yushchenko, got through parliament in a 233-1 vote just days after the nation commemorated the devastating Soviet-era famine's victims on Holodomor Memorial Day, Saturday.
According to surveys, more than 60% of Ukraine's residents believe that although Holodomor was a state-sponsored campaign, it targeted all of the Soviet Union's population, not just ethnic Ukrainians. Only a quarter regard it as ethnically motivated.
Many members of the public and analysts are concerned that the anti-Soviet Holodomor interpretation, consolidated by the bill, will be seen by Russia as an unfriendly act, and will further complicate the already strained relations between the post-Soviet neighbors.
