Regional features of demographics in the Central Black Earth region of Russia during the famine of 1932-1933

The article considers the issue of evaluating the natural movement of population during the famine of 1932-1933 in the Central Black Earth region of Russia. It is established that it was fully covered by the accounting system with high accuracy of population count under the conditions of the highest migration flows. The demographic catastrophe of the urban population was primarily observed, and the extermination of the peasantry by famine is not confirmed by historical data. Regional estimates of birth and mortality rates, as well as their geographical zoning, are presented. The most favourable situation was in the north and north-west of the region, while the south-west (regions of the modern Belgorod Oblast) was the area of demographic catastrophe. The absence of any ethnic component (ethnocide or genocide) during the events of 1933 in the Central Black Earth Region of Russia has been proved - the death rate of the rural population did not differ between the national Ukrainian and Russian districts. The artificiality of the famine by any single system organized by the central government has not been revealed. Mortality was most probably determined by the actions of local authorities or by natural factors, which requires further assessment.