Ukraine's parliament declares USSR responsible for outbreak of World War II

The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's Parliament, has approved a document called the Declaration of Memory and Solidarity of the Parliaments of Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania, in which, amongst other things, it states that the USSR was responsible for the outbreak of World War II. A total of 243 deputies voted in favor.

"We draw attention to the fact that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 23, 1939 was signed between two totalitarian regimes — the communist Soviet Union and Nazi Germany — [and] led to the explosion of the Second World War on September 1 as a result of German aggression, which the Soviet Union [reciprocated] on September 17", the declaration reads.

At a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada, it was announced that Poland's parliament would approve the declaration on October 20 and that Lithuania's parliament would review the document after its parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for October 23.