III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 472 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the 90th anniversary of the Ukrainian 

Famine of 1932–1933, known as the Holodomor, should serve as a 

reminder of repressive Soviet policies against the people of Ukraine, 

and that Vladimir Putin’s brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine 

once again threatens the existence of the Ukrainian people, while exacerbating the problems of global hunger. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 27, 2023 

Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. WICKER) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the 90th anniversary 

of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932–1933, known as the 

Holodomor, should serve as a reminder of repressive 

Soviet policies against the people of Ukraine, and that 

Vladimir Putin’s brutal and unprovoked war against 

Ukraine once again threatens the existence of the 

Ukrainian people, while exacerbating the problems of 

global hunger. 

Whereas Russia’s illegal, premeditated, unprovoked, and brutal war against Ukraine— 

(1) violates international law; 

(2) undermines the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity; and 


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•SRES 472 IS 

(3) includes extensive, systematic, and flagrant 

atrocities against the people of Ukraine; 

Whereas Vladimir Putin’s repeated public rejections of a separate Ukrainian identity have made the war an existential fight for the Ukrainian Government and people; 

Whereas Moscow’s continuing war against Ukraine has 

weaponized food through intentional and concerted attacks on the Ukrainian agricultural sector and energy 

grid, resulting in elevated global grain prices that disproportionately impact low- and middle-income countries 

in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and subSaharan Africa, which are dependent on imported 

Ukrainian wheat; 

Whereas Moscow’s weaponization of hunger has further exacerbated an unprecedented global food crisis, with more 

than 345,000,000 people around the world facing acute 

levels of food insecurity in 2023; 

Whereas, on July 17, 2023, Russia unilaterally withdrew 

from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which since its inception in July 2022 resulted in the export of more than 

32,000,000 metric tons of Ukrainian grain, including 

grain exports to developing countries vulnerable to food 

insecurity; 

Whereas Putin’s attitude towards, and actions in, Ukraine 

evoke comparisons with the totalitarian government of 

the former Soviet Union, which was responsible for the 

Ukrainian Famine of 1932–1933; 

Whereas Ukraine is a major global exporter of agricultural 

products that are critical to global food supplies, including wheat, corn, barley, and sunflower; 


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•SRES 472 IS 

Whereas Russia’s illegal occupation of Ukrainian territory, 

including the Crimean peninsula and the Ukrainian 

Black Sea port of Mariupol, its assault on Kherson and 

Odessa, its use of naval mines in the Black Sea and land 

mines in Ukraine’s agricultural areas, sustained attacks 

against Ukraine’s energy grid, and the destruction of 

Ukrainian export terminals and transportation infrastructure have severely constrained Ukraine’s ability to 

export grain; 

Whereas, Senate Resolution 435, which was passed by the 

Senate on October 3, 2018, commemorated the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor and recognized the Soviet 

Union’s role in perpetrating this genocide against the 

Ukrainian people; 

Whereas 2022–2023 marks the 90th anniversary of the 

Ukrainian Famine of 1932–1933, which is also known as 

the Holodomor; 

Whereas in 1932 and 1933, millions of Ukrainian people perished at the will of the totalitarian Stalinist Government 

of the Soviet Union, which perpetrated a premeditated 

famine in Ukraine in an effort to break the nation’s resistance to collectivization and communist occupation; 

Whereas the Government of the Soviet Union deliberately 

confiscated grain harvests and starved millions of 

Ukrainian men, women, and children by a policy of 

forced collectivization that sought to destroy the nationally conscious movement for independence; 

Whereas Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin ordered the borders of 

Ukraine sealed to prevent anyone from escaping the manmade starvation, and to prevent the delivery of any interVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Nov 28, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR472.IS SR472

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national food aid that would provide relief to the starving; 

Whereas numerous scholars worldwide have worked to uncover the scale of the famine, including Canadian wheat 

expert Andrew Cairns who visited Ukraine in 1932, and 

was told that there was no grain ‘‘because the government had collected so much grain and exported it to England and Italy’’, while Joseph Stalin simultaneously denied food aid to the people of Ukraine; 

Whereas nearly 25 percent of Ukraine’s rural population perished or were forced into exile due to the induced starvation and the entire nation suffered from the consequences 

of the prolonged famine; 

Whereas noted correspondents of the time were refuted for 

their courage in depicting and reporting on the forced 

famine in Ukraine, including Gareth Jones, William 

Henry Chamberlin, and Malcolm Muggeridge, who wrote 

‘‘[The peasants] will tell you that many have already died 

of famine, and that many are dying every day; that thousands have been shot by the Government and hundreds 

of thousands exiled . . .’’; 

Whereas title V of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, 

State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1986 (Public Law 99–180; 99 Stat. 1157), 

which was enacted on December 13, 1985, established 

the Commission on the Ukraine Famine to ‘‘conduct a 

study of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932–1933 in order to 

expand the world’s knowledge of the famine and provide 

the American public with a better understanding of the 

Soviet system by revealing the Soviet role’’ in it; 


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•SRES 472 IS 

Whereas, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, archival 

documents became available that confirmed the deliberate 

and premeditated deadly nature of the famine and that 

exposed the atrocities committed by the Soviet government against the Ukrainian people; 

Whereas Raphael Lemkin, who devoted his life to the development of legal concepts and norms for containing mass 

atrocities and whose tireless advocacy swayed the United 

Nations in 1948 to adopt the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, authored 

an essay in 1953 entitled ‘‘Soviet Genocide in the 

Ukraine’’, which highlighted the ‘‘classic example of Soviet genocide’’ characterizing it ‘‘not simply a case of 

mass murder. It is a case of genocide, of destruction, not 

of individuals only, but of a culture and a nation’’; 

Whereas Ukraine’s law Number 376–V, ‘‘Law of Ukraine on 

the Starvation in Ukraine of 1932–1933’’, which was enacted on November 28, 2006, gave official recognition to 

the Holodomor as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people; 

Whereas, on October 13, 2006, President George W. Bush 

signed into law Public Law 109–340, which authorized 

the Government of Ukraine ‘‘to establish a memorial on 

Federal land in the District of Columbia to honor the victims of the Ukrainian famine-genocide of 1932–1933’’, 

and the Holodomor Memorial was officially dedicated in 

November 2015; 

Whereas the Government of Ukraine and the Ukrainian communities in the United States and worldwide continue 

their efforts to secure greater international awareness 

and understanding of the 1932–1933 tragedy; and 


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•SRES 472 IS 

Whereas victims of the Holodomor of 1932–1933 were commemorated by Ukrainian communities around the globe 

and in Ukraine throughout November 2022: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) condemns Vladimir Putin’s brutal and 

3 unprovoked war in Ukraine and his repeated public 

4 rejections of the existence of a Ukrainian people and 

5 a sovereign Ukrainian State; 

6 (2) condemns Vladimir Putin’s weaponization of 

7 hunger, which has increased global food prices and 

8 food insecurity in the world; 

9 (3) calls upon Vladimir Putin and the Russian 

10 Armed Forces— 

11 (A) to immediately cease their attacks on 

12 Ukrainian civilians; 

13 (B) to withdraw all troops from Ukraine; 

14 and 

15 (C) to fully respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, 

16 independence, and territorial integrity; 

17 (4) solemnly remembers the 90th anniversary of 

18 the Holodomor of 1932–1933, and extends its deep19 est sympathies to the victims, survivors, and families 

20 of this tragedy; 

21 (5) condemns the systematic violations of 

22 human rights, including the freedom of self-deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Nov 28, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR472.IS SR472

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•SRES 472 IS 

1 mination and freedom of speech of the Ukrainian 

2 people by the Government of the Soviet Union; 

3 (6) recognizes the findings of the Commission 

4 on the Ukraine Famine, as submitted to Congress 

5 on April 22, 1988, including that ‘‘Joseph Stalin 

6 and those around him committed genocide against 

7 the Ukrainians in 1932–1933’’; 

8 (7) encourages dissemination of information re9 garding the Holodomor of 1932–1933 in order to ex10 pand the world’s knowledge of this manmade trag11 edy; and 

12 (8) supports the continuing efforts of the people 

13 of Ukraine to defend themselves against Russian ag14 gression, to work toward ensuring democratic prin15 ciples, a free economy, and full respect for human 

16 rights in order to enable Ukraine to achieve its full 

17 potential in accordance with the desires of the 

18 Ukrainian people and to deepen the partnership be19 tween Ukraine, the United States, and all demo20 cratic nations. 

Æ 


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