Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the German Parliament on Wednesday for passing a resolution that declared the death by starvation of millions of Ukrainians in 1932-33 to be a genocide.
The three parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition all voted in favor earlier in the day in the Bundestag, German media reported.
In November 1932, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin dispatched police to seize all grain and livestock from newly collectivized Ukrainian farms, including the seed needed to plant the next crop. Millions of Ukrainian peasants starved to death in the following months.
"This is a decision for justice, for truth. And it is a very important signal to many other countries of the world that Russian revanchism will not succeed in rewriting history," Zelenskyy said in an evening address.
Romania, Ireland and Moldova are among the countries that have already declared the event to be a genocide.
Ukraine accused the Kremlin on Saturday of reviving the "genocidal" tactics of Stalin. Moscow denies the deaths were caused by a deliberate genocidal policy and says Russians and other ethnic groups also suffered because of famine.
Zelenskyy, who is pressing Germany to provide more weapons to defend itself against the Russian invasion that began in February, said future generations of Ukrainians would thank Scholz if Berlin agreed to supply U.S. made Patriot missile defense systems. Germany says it is discussing the request with allies.
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