Today marks the 86th anniversary of the Sandarmokh massacre, a tragic event where over a thousand people, including prominent Ukrainian writers, poets, artists, scientists, and others, were ruthlessly executed by Soviet authorities.
A thousand renowned Ukrainian writers, artists, scientists, playwrights, and other prominent figures were shot in the pine forest in northern Russia (Karelia) on an autumn day.
Known as the “Executed Renaissance” in Ukraine, this brutal massacre claimed the lives of luminaries such as poet Mykola Zerov, theater director Les Kurbas, educators Antin, Ostap, and Bohdan Krushelnytskyi, writers Valeryan Pidmohylnyi, Mykola Kulish, and many more. Approximately six thousand individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds met their tragic end at Sandarmokh between 1937 and 1938.
For decades, the Soviet Union concealed this crime, only revealing the truth in 1997 when a group of Russian historians from “Memorial” discovered the massacre site after extensive searches. These historians and their organization are now oppressed and labeled as “foreign agents” by Putin’s regime. Yuri Dmitriev, a leading researcher at Sandarmokh, has faced arrest.
“Those who believe Moscow began its plan to annihilate Ukraine and erase Ukrainian identity in 2022 or even 2014 should read more about Sandarmokh, the Holodomor genocide, and other horrible crimes committed over the ages,” Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba commented.
“These crimes have never been properly prosecuted or punished. And it is precisely this total impunity that has enabled the Russian evil to commit horrible atrocities in Bucha, Izium, Mariupol, and elsewhere. Ukraine must win this war and bring evil to justice, no matter how long it takes, to ensure Ukrainians right’ to live in peace and safety in their homeland,” Kuleba said.