Pope likens Russia’s war in Ukraine to famine caused by Stalin: ‘Martyrdom of aggression’

Pope Francis said on Wednesday that Ukrainians are experiencing “martyrs of aggression” today and compared Russia’s war in Ukraine to the “terrible genocide” of the 1930s, when Soviet leader Joseph Stalin created famine in the country.

Speaking to thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square at the weekly plenary meeting, Francis talked about the “Holodomor” or starvation event, in which millions of Ukrainians died.

“This Saturday commemorates the anniversary of the horrific Holodomor genocide, the famine extermination of 1932-33, artificially caused by Stalin,” he said.

“Let’s pray for the victims of this genocide, and let’s pray for the many Ukrainians – children, women, the elderly – who have suffered martyrdom of aggression today,” he said.

For hundreds of years, any expression of the Ukrainian language and Ukrainian culture and independent identity was obsolete, first under the Empire of the Tsars of Russia and later by the Soviets.

The Holodomor was the result of Stalin’s efforts to collectivize agriculture and eradicate Ukraine’s burgeoning nationalist movement.

Since Russia’s invasion of his neighbor in February, Francis has spoken almost publicly of Ukraine, warning repeatedly that the crisis risks triggering the use of nuclear weapons with uncontrollable global consequences.