The Holodomor, or the Great Ukrainian Famine, reflected a turning point in history in terms of genocide, the increasing power and control of communist states like the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and the emergence of a renewed and distinct Ukrainian identity​​​​​​​ separate from that of Soviet history. The Famine engendered a theme of remembrance versus denial in the history of Eastern Europe and paralleled the various horrors of future genocides, especially the use of man-made famine as a mass weapon to destroy a group of people, their culture, and their history. The Holodomor's legacy remains etched into the very fiber of current-day political relations between Ukraine and Russia and continues to serve as a reminder of the brutality of unchecked military-communist regimes.