memes

That's a good question but i can't say with certainty because I haven't looked into the famine with any depth yet.

I know that Kosior, who was the head of the Ukrainian SSR, received serious criticisms for how he managed the Ukraine in the lead up to the famine and during the famine but I really can't speak with any authority about what happened. Hopefully someone else who knows about this subject will chime in.

Look up the work of Mark Tauger. He is an economic historian who specializes in the period.

He describes the worst human-driven cause of the famine being the mass slaughter of livestock, cattle but also very importantly mass slaughter of horses used for meat and labor, by kulaks and Ukrainian nationalists.

He also describes the relief efforts made by the Soviets, especially once the higher leadership in Moscow began taking a more active role as the crisis deepened.