EU leaders show support to Kyiv on famine anniversary
EUROPEAN leaders pledge their support to Ukraine on the 90th anniversary of the start of the Holodomor famine.
Russia “will pay” for a Soviet-era famine that left millions of Ukrainians dead during the winter of 1932-33 and “answer for today’s crimes”, said the head of Ukraine’s presidential administration Andriy Yermak.
Ukraine is working to restore electricity and water services after a recent pummelling by Russian military strikes that vastly damaged infrastructure.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than six million households in the country were still affected by power cuts.
Permanent Representative of Ukraine Mission to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya honoured the victims of the Holodomor, saying the suffering and death in Ukraine by Russia is “innumerable”. He added that Russia’s aggression “only makes our nation stronger”.
President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola expressed her support for Ukraine on the anniversary of Holodomor. She drew parallels between the current war in Ukraine and the famine 90 years ago, saying “Ukrainians are once again fighting to preserve their lives”.
Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo shared his support of Zelenskyy’s initiative, Grain from Ukraine.
He wrote on Twitter that Belgium supports “Ukraine to take Ukrainian grain to world markets, especially to countries with severe food insecurity”.
Zelenskyy hosted a summit in Kyiv to promote its “Grain from Ukraine” initiative. Zelenskyy said Kyiv had raised around $150m from more than 20 countries and the European Union to export grain to countries most vulnerable to famine.