Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna Statement by the Delegation of Ukraine on the Commemoration of the Victims of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine as delivered by the Delegation of Ukraine, to the 1543 rd meeting of the Permanent Council, 20 November 2025 Madam Chairperson, Ninety-two years ago, in 1932-1933, the Ukrainian nation endured one of the most horrific crimes of the twentieth century – the Holodomor. It was not a natural disaster but a deliberate act of terror by starvation orchestrated by the Soviet totalitarian regime to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people, eradicate their identity, and destroy the foundation of their statehood. Next Saturday, Ukraine honours the memory of millions innocent victims. Their suffering stands as a stark reminder of what happens when lies replace truth and when a state turns food – the essence of life – into a weapon of mass murder. Distinguished colleagues, For many decades throughout Soviet history, the Holodomor genocide was officially denied and covered up by the authorities. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation continues to deny this horrific crime, despite clear evidences and scientific researches results. It was not only an artificial famine, but a thoroughly planned and executed Holodomor, which in Ukrainian means “inflicting death by starvation”. Deprivation of food was used as a weapon to ethnically cleanse the Ukrainian territories. Not only grain, but all food was taken away from villages by force, people trying to hide even small amounts of food were deported and shot, those attempting to move to cities and other places in search for food were barred from leaving their villages. At the height of Holodomor, Ukrainians died at a rate of 25,000 per day, nearly a quarter of rural Ukrainians perished, more than 3 million children born in 1932 and 1933 died of starvation. In the same two years, the Soviet Union sold 1.7 million tons of grain on foreign markets. PC.DEL/1265/25 20 November 2025 ENGLISH only The OSCE Secretariat bears no responsibility for the content of this document and circulates it without altering its content. The distribution by OSCE Conference Services of this document is without prejudice to OSCE decisions, as set out in documents agreed by OSCE participating States.
2 Raphael Lemkin, a renowned expert in international criminal law, who researched and developed a concept of genocide, and whose many ideas were incorporated into the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide in 1948, described the Holodomor as “not simply a case of mass murder but as a case of genocide, of destruction, not of individuals only, but of a culture and a nation”. Ukraine highly values the solidarity and support of the international community regarding the condemnation of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. As of November 2025, the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine 28 states recognized as an act of genocide of the Ukrainian people at the parliamentary level. We underline the importance of advancement of efforts aimed at the recognition by the OSCE participating States of the Holodomor of 1932- 1933 in Ukraine as genocide of the Ukrainian people. Madam Chairperson, The lessons of the Holodomor resonate tragically today. In the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, deprivation of food remains a weapon in the hands of the aggressor. Independent reports – including by the OSCE Moscow Mechanism, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and OHCHR – have documented systematic starvation, denial of water, and deliberate malnutrition inflicted on Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees by Russian authorities, both in the occupied territories and within Russia itself. Such acts continue the legacy of cruelty rooted in the same imperial mindset that engineered the Holodomor. Ukraine will never allow these crimes to be silenced or forgotten. We call upon all OSCE participating States to strengthen efforts to ensure full accountability for Russia’s crimes, to combat disinformation aimed at distorting historical truth, and to stand united in defence of the values that underpin the Helsinki Final Act – human dignity, freedom, and justice. In remembering the victims of the Holodomor, we also reaffirm our unwavering resolve that the weaponization of hunger must never again find place in Europe. Thank you, Madam Chairperson!