Genocide is an internationally recognized crime where acts are committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. _______________________________________ UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
1948/ Article 2. Genocide Convention
Ukrainians' struggle trough years
The recognition of Holodomor as genocide – is an act of acknowledgement of Ukrainian historical reality. Instead of viewing Ukraine as simply a remnant left behind after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which could be swayed or influenced easily by external forces, it's essential to recognize Ukraine's long-standing resilience. Throughout history, Ukraine has resisted various forms of colonization, whether it was under the Tsarist Empire, the Soviet regime, or facing modern-day pressures from what's termed here as Ruscism.
By understanding this, one can see Ukraine not as a passive entity, but as a nation with a rich history of resistance and determination to maintain its sovereignty and identity.
Historical brutalities
Ukrainian society is committed to ferocious resistance because its collective conscience and memory tells them so. The genocidal strategy employed by russian forces in Ukraine, which has already led to the complete annihilation of cities, is a tradition of the empire and an old method of Moscow to punish Ukrainians for insubordination. Following Ukrainian Hetman Ivan Mazepa's insubordination, Tsar Peter I retaliated by punishing his city, Baturyn, with a massacre. In the spring of 1708, russian soldiers killed between 11 and 15 thousand individuals, including children, women and infants. In 1932-33, Stalin caused an artificial famine that took the lives of four million people in Ukraine.Today, Russian executing the same actions that were observed during the massacre in Bucha and the ‘hecatomb’ (sacrifice) of Mariupol. Therefore, acknowledging Holodomor as genocide is crucial in comprehending the essence of Russian imperialism while recognizing the dangers it poses to humanity. Hence, political responsibilities arise, as the recognition of a threat immediately demands necessary action.
The amine of 1932-33
Recognising Holodomor as genocide means viewing Ukraine without colonial glasses. In the Soviet-imperial historical concept, the famine of 1932-33 was a catastrophe that was shared across other regions of the Soviet Union, thus affecting different communities. However, the Holodomor was a man-made famine. This was a genocidal instrument of subordinating Ukrainians by the stalinist and imperial-communist project. The man-made hunger, organized by Moscow on Ukrainian land aimed to break national resistance and uprising of Ukrainians, which in the period of 1917-22, attempted to create their own independent nation state, and subsequently continued to resist the Soviets.
Understanding the genocidal nature of Holodomor is an important step in understanding the current war. This is not a territorial dispute between two countries that went too far. Ukrainians are nonetheless aware that Putin’s aim is not to ‘demilitarize’ or ‘denazify’ Ukraine but to achieve the destruction of its sovereignty and national identity. Evidence of Russia’s atrocities and war crimes committed on occupied territories from 2014, implies that Russia’s aggression aims to force Ukrainians to stop being Ukrainians and bring them back to another one of Moscow’s imperial projects.
Today, Ukraine is pursuing its goal of joining the European Union, which corresponds its long-standing aspirations. However, European membership holds a deeper meaning for Ukrainians than just the economic and political advantages it offers. For Ukrainians, a European bearing is the return back to their homeland a civilization from which we were dislodged by foreign imperial ambitions. Therefore, it is essential to collaborate with the EU and a deeper understanding of its diverse nations. This will facilitate the establishment of a collective future with other progressive nations.
The art of Diana Baskakova, 15 year old, Ukrainian