During a meeting with the Ambassador of Israel to Ukraine Michael Brodsky, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk asked to consider conferring the title of "Righteous" on Ukrainians who saved Jewish lives during the Holocaust.
This is reported by the press service of the Verkhovna Rada.
"We are referring to Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and priest Omelyan Kovch. This would be regarded as an important step in strengthening friendship between our peoples," Ruslan Stefanchuk said.
The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine thanked the Israeli delegation for participating in commemorative events on the occasion of the Babyn Yar tragedy.
In addition, the Parliament speaker noted that Ukraine strongly condemns any form of intolerance and anti-Semitism. According to him, the importance of this issue for Ukraine is evidenced by the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of the law "on preventing and countering anti-Semitism in Ukraine", which was signed by the president of Ukraine on October 7, 2021. "I hope that this activity will be appreciated by the Israeli side," Ruslan Stefanchuk said.
He recalled that next year Ukraine will celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor that is the genocide of 1932-33.
"I would like to personally appeal to the speakers of all countries, to our friendly parliaments with a proposal to find an opportunity next year and recognize the Holodomor as an act of genocide of the Ukrainian people. If Israel followed the example of many countries around the world, it would be a very great and valuable support for us," the head of the Ukrainian Parliament requested.