Kaine & Wicker Introduce Bipartisan Resolution to Recognize Anniversary of Holodomor Famine, Reaffirm Support for Ukraine

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), and Roger Wicker (R-MS), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, introduced a resolution recognizing the 93rd anniversary of the Ukrainian famine of 1932–1933, known as the Holodomor, and emphasizing the threat of Russia’s current war in Ukraine to the existence of the Ukrainian people and global food security.

“Ninety-three years ago, millions of innocent Ukrainian men, women, and children starved to death when Stalin inflicted a premeditated famine in Ukraine in an effort to break the nation’s resistance to Soviet occupation,” said Kaine. “Today, Vladimir Putin’s brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine, including his intentional and concerted attacks on the Ukrainian agricultural sector, once again threatens the survival of the Ukrainian people. We must honor the victims and survivors of the Holodomor by condemning Putin’s war on Ukraine and his cruel weaponization of hunger. I will continue to do all that I can to support Ukraine’s right to defend itself against Russian attacks.”

“Stalin murdered millions of Ukrainians with his man-made famine. As we commemorate those horrors, we must recognize Vladimir Putin’s current assault. When Ukrainians see Putin, they see the latest Russian dictator eager to wipe their country off the face of the earth. Is it any wonder they are fighting so hard against this war criminal? The United States must continue supporting these patriots as they defend their homes from the latest Russian assault,” said Wicker.

Russia’s unilateral withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in 2023, a deal that allowed international shipments of corn, wheat, barley, and other food products from three ports in Ukraine, caused prices for grains to skyrocket around the world. This has raised the risk of hunger for millions of people in countries dependent on Ukrainian food exports, predominantly people in low- and middle-income countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s agricultural sector and energy grid have further exacerbated this unprecedented global food crisis, with more than 345 million people around the world facing acute food insecurity in 2023.

Full text of the resolution is available here.

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