Investigators Searching for Moscow Readers Who Borrowed Books on Ukraine Famine

By The Moscow Times

April 13, 2016

A bust of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko is displayed at the Library of Ukrainian Literature in Moscow, Russia. Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

Russian investigators are reportedly searching for visitors to the Moscow Library of Ukrainian Literature who borrowed books on Ukrainian history and the Holodomor, the man-made famine that killed up to 7.5 million people in 1930s Ukraine, the unian.net news website reported Wednesday.

The news website reported that investigators are requesting the personal information of library visitors who borrowed books 18, eight and six years ago, citing an unidentified source at the library.

The titles of the borrowed books are “Horde mentality,” “Ukraine and death,” and “Famine in Ukraine.”

The library currently carrying out a stock-take and review of all books, with many employees being threatened with dismissal.

Library director Natalya Sharina is under house arrest until April 28 on two charges of embezzlement. Sharina was arrested on March 31 after being accused of inciting ethnic hatred and humiliating human dignity.

If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison.

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