Resolution comes as Russian war in Ukraine continues to strangle Ukraine’s ability to export much-needed wheat, exacerbating global food shortages and food insecurity

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), applauded SFRC passage of his resolution commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933, known as the Holodomor, and underscoring the consequences Russia’s current war of choice on Ukraine is having on global food shortages and food insecurity.

“On the 90th anniversary of Holodomor, we commemorate the millions of Ukrainians who lost their lives as a result of Joseph Stalin’s cruelty,” said Senator Kaine. “Today, as Russia continues its brutal invasion of Ukraine, we’re seeing the same devastating impacts of war on global food supplies and the weaponization of hunger during conflict. The committee passage of this resolution reaffirms our commitment to fighting world hunger and the need to hold Russia accountable for exacerbating global food insecurity.”

In May, Kaine introduced the bipartisan resolution designating World Hunger Day and spoke about World Hunger Day, Holodomor, and the impacts of the war in Ukraine on global food insecurity in a SFRC hearing. Kaine is also a cosponsor of the bipartisan Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2022, which would improve U.S. strategy and reauthorize funding to fight global food insecurity and hunger.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has strangled Ukraine’s ability to export much-needed wheat. As the producer of roughly a fifth of the world’s high-grade wheat, Ukraine has historically played an outsized role in the global food supply. The ongoing war has caused prices for grains to soar around the world and threatened to put millions of people in countries dependent on Ukraine’s food exports in danger.

The number of people around the world facing acute food insecurity greatly increased from 135 million in 2019 to 193 million in 2021. Last year, nearly 40 million people experienced emergency levels of acute food insecurity, which is just one step away from famine, and these figures are projected to worsen for 2022.