The Our Ukraine opposition party on Tuesday accused President Viktor Yanukovych of violating laws on the denial of the 1932-1933 famine, known as the Holodomor in Ukraine.
Earlier in the day, Yanukovych told the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's spring session that the famine could not be considered genocide as it was "a common tragedy of the Soviet people."
Under Ukrainian law, it is an offense to deny that the famine, which took the lives of an estimated 3 million people, was an act of genocide committed by the Soviet state.
Our Ukraine said on its web-site that the president had also disgraced himself in front of the European parliament, which is set to discuss the famine on Wednesday, including an amendment to a Holomodor report recognizing it as genocide.
But a Russian PACE delegation member, Sergei Markov said that thanks to Yanukovych's statement, the controversial amendment will not pass through the resolution.
"The Assembly met with applause his [Yanukovych's] words...This statement will definitely affect the resolution..." Markov said.
A draft PACE resolution on the famine says it was caused by "the cruel and deliberate actions and policies of the Soviet regime" responsible for the deaths of "millions of innocent people," not only in Ukraine, but also in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Russia.
KIEV, April 27 (RIA Novosti)
