1921–1923 famine in Ukraine

The 1921–1923 famine in Ukraine was a disaster that mostly occurred in the southern steppe region of Ukraine. The number of fatalities is estimated between 200,000 and 1,000,000, but no systematic records were then made.

Among researchers who describe the famine of 1921–1923 as genocide are Wasyl Veryha and Roman Serbyn.

Causes

Famines regularly occurred under the Russian Empire such as the famine of 1891–1892, but the Ukrainian fertile agricultural zone, especially its southern region, usually had enough food because of the high fertility of its black soil, chernozem. However, between 1918 and 1920, the Germans, the White Army, and the Red Army militants continuously tried to seize food from peasants. In 1919, a food tax was established by the Russian communist authorities, which disincentivized food production by peasants.

During the summer of 1921, the southern regions of the European part of Soviet Russia were suffering from severe drought and starvation, which began in the Volga Valley, the North Caucasus, and Ukraine. The Moscow government recognized the Russian famine of 1921–1922 (Volga food crisis) but paid no attention to Ukraine. Moreover, Vladimir Lenin ordered to move trains full of grain from Ukraine to the Volga region, Moscow, and Petrograd to combat starvation there, and 1,127 trains were sent between the fall of 1921 and August 1922.

Soviet leaders acknowledged the famine in southern Ukraine only in December 1921, and it was still a sensation when they met delegates in Kharkiv in February 1922.