"I stressed the importance of the Knesset recognizing the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people, especially ahead of the Holodomor tragedy's anniversary," Parubiy said during a joint briefing with his Israeli counterpart Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, as quoted by the Ukrinform news agency.
Earlier in November, Knesset Vice Speaker Navoi Boker submitted a draft resolution on recognizing the Holodomor, which means “inflicting death by starvation,” as a genocide. Upon adoption, Israel could become one of several countries that recognize the famine as genocide alongside Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic states, Hungary and Canada.
During Wednesday's briefing, Edelstein stressed that Ukraine and Israel have warm relations and thanked Ukrainian authorities for holding Holocaust remembrance events on the recent 75th Babi Yar massacre anniversary, commemorating the killing of tens of thousands of Jews by Nazi forces in Kiev.
The famine of 1932-1933 engulfed vast swathes of the Soviet Union's Central Black Earth Region, including Ukraine, the Volga river regions, west Siberia, Kazakhstan, the south Urals and the north Caucasus. Death toll estimates range from 2 to 8 million people. Ukraine's latest estimates claim that nearly 4 million Ukrainians died during the famine. Ukraine considers the famine to be intentionally directed against Ukrainian people, a claim Russia staunchly denies and rejects Ukraine's attempts at "politicizing history."
In 2008, the UN General Assembly voted against recognizing the Ukrainian famine as genocide.
