KIEV, Ukraine — Church bells tolled, can- dles flickered under falling snow and national flags, adorned with black ribbons, flew in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev on Saturday as the country marked the anniversary of the start of a Soviet-era famine that killed millions.
But the solemn events were overshadowed by fierce opposition from Russia. The Kremlin is resisting Ukraine’s campaign to win international recognition of the 1932-33 tragedy as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian nation, saying other ethnic groups also suffered.
The anniversary of Holodomor — or Death by Hunger as it is known here — is marked in late November, when the food shortages began. The famine was orchestrated by dictator Josef Stalin to force peasants to give up their land and join collective farms, and Ukraine suffered the most.
The death toll is disputed. Top Ukrainian historian Stanislav Kulchitsky thinks 3.5 million died, while President Viktor Yushchenko says up to 10 million died. “This was not death through hunger — this was murder of people through hunger,” a black-clad Yushchenko said in a speech. The Associated Press
