Russian Parliament recognizes Katyn massacre as Stalin’s crime

2010-11-27 01:46:25 GMT+7 (ICT)

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (BNO NEWS) -- The Russian Parliament‘s lower house, also known as Duma, on Friday recognized the 1940 Katyn massacre as a crime committed by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

The Duma approved a declaration recognizing the massacre of over 20,000 Polish officers as an act ordered by Stalin and other Soviet Union officials. The Katyn massacre took place during World War II.

"Materials which were kept in secret archives for many years show that the Katyn massacre was committed on the direct orders of Stalin," the declaration read.

According to official data, more than 20,000 Polish officers were killed in 1940 by the NKVD, the Soviet Union’s secret police. The executions took place at different locations in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

The largest massacre was registered in the Katyn forest near the Russian city of Smolensk. Communist who opposed the bill claimed that the massacre was executed by German occupation forces in the fall of 1941 and said they can provide with documents to prove this allegation.

The Katyn massacre has been a source of tension between Poland and Russia, but the recent admission that Soviet forces were responsible will likely improve relations.

Earlier this year, Polish President Lech Kaczynski and other Polish officials died in a plane crash as they were flying to a memorial ceremony for the Polish officers killed in the Katyn massacre.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-11-27

""Materials which were kept in secret archives for many years show that the Katyn massacre was committed on the direct orders of Stalin," the declaration read."

Also in the secret archives was evidence that it gets chilly in Siberia during the winter.