In 2009, Bolton Council became only the fourth council in the UK to recognise the Holodomor — death by starvation — as an act of genocide.

The Holodomor killed between 7 million and 10 million Ukrainians, of whom one third were children. It lasted 18 months and calculations show that an average size primary school of infants died every hour of every day during the period.

The Ukrainian community of Great Britain has for many years attempted to persuade the governments of the day to recognise this mass murder as genocide without success.

Both Labour and Conservative parties have not had the courage to stand up against the likes of Putin and do the decent thing.

This week, Ukrainians throughout the world will remember the innocent lives of their fellow Ukrainians. This week begins a year-long commemoration of those tragic events.

On Sunday, November 26, the Ukrainian community of Bolton will hold a memorial service in Heaton Cemetery at the stone erected in 2012 which will start at noon.

Yaroslaw Tymchyshyn

Association of Ukrainians In GB

Bolton Branch