The Edina City Council heard an announcement about the upcoming Days of Remembrance event during its March 15 retreat. The Human Rights and Relations Commission is organizing the event, titled "Genocide in Ukraine from Stalin to Hitler to Putin," to be held Wednesday, May 15, at Edina City Hall. The event will be broadcast live.

Dr. Ellen J. Kennedy, founder of World Without Genocide, will serve as the keynote speaker. According to the presentation, Kennedy will discuss the historical atrocities committed against Ukrainian people, including Stalin's forced starvation that killed approximately 4 million people and Nazi-era killings that claimed nearly 1.6 million Jewish lives in Ukraine. She will also address the ongoing crisis in Ukraine today.

Council members emphasized the event's dual purpose: honoring victims of past genocides while raising awareness about contemporary atrocities. "We're going to continue to honor every year the memory of the millions of people who were killed during the Nazi era," one speaker noted, "but Dr. Kennedy is going to focus on a continuing genocide that's really happened since the Stalin era in Ukraine. It's a good reminder the genocide goes on today as it did back in the 30s and 40s."

The announcement was presented as an informational item, meaning no vote was required. The event aims to educate the community about the historical and ongoing suffering of the Ukrainian people and to raise awareness about genocide more broadly.