Ukraine Urges OSCE to Recognize Holodomor as Genocide, Presents Evidence of Russia's New 'Genocidal Intentions'

At today's OSCE meeting, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna, Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk, showcased Ukrainian grain scorched by the Russian army in Izmail, urging the organization to recognize the Holodomor as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people.

"In this small box, I have five grains burned by Russia using Iranian drones in Izmail. Russia destroyed hundreds of thousands of tons of grain, depriving families worldwide of essential food. Just as Ukrainians were deprived during the Holodomor in 1932-1933," stated Tsymbaliuk, holding a box of scorched grains.

"By shelling Ukrainian grain, Russia brings us back to the horrors of the Holodomor-genocide against Ukrainians imposed by the Soviet regime 90 years ago. In today's OSCE meeting, we honoured the memory of Holodomor victims and presented grain burned by Russia in Ukrainian Izmail. Let it serve as a reminder of the need to protect humanity," emphasized the Ukrainian representative.

He added that the world needs a vaccine against attempts to turn food into a weapon, including through the recognition of the Holodomor as an act of genocide.

"The Holodomor is also a vivid reminder of Moscow's numerous attempts to kill Ukrainian identity – mass killings of peaceful populations, city bombardments, critical infrastructure set ablaze, the undermining of Kakhovka HPP, deported and assimilated children, mined fields, and the dehumanization of Ukrainians – all speak volumes about Russia's genocidal intentions today," declared the Ukrainian diplomat at the OSCE.

"We cannot build a future with a country that kidnaps our future, our children," said Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk.

Heads of the Foreign Ministries of OSCE member countries, including Russia's representative Sergey Lavrov, were invited to this meeting.

As a result, the Foreign Ministers of Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania announced a boycott of the session. Several other heads of foreign affairs departments of OSCE countries were absent from the meeting, although they did not publicly declare a boycott.

In 2008, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing the fact of the Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932-1933, but did not define it as genocide. At that time, Russia dismissed the recognition of the Holodomor as 'complete nonsense'.