Ukraine to investigate whether devastating 1932-33 Soviet-era famine was genocide

The probe is likely to anger neighboring Russia, which insists the famine was not genocide because Russians and other ethnic groups also suffered.

Verstyuk said the investigation is not aimed at extracting any compensation from Russia, the Soviet Union's legal successor.

"We are not putting forward any material or moral claims. What matters for us is to condemn Stalin's regime and those who surrounded him," Verstyuk said.

Estimates of the number of people who perished differ wildly. Yushchenko estimates up to 10 million Ukrainians died, while Stanislav Kulchitsky, a Ukrainian historian, believes 3.5 million perished.

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