Stratocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of a social class. Originally coined by Tomas Venclova. In describing the Holodomor Russia Today Venclova defines: "Stratocide – elimination of a social class, from Latin ‘strat’ (stratum – layer, social layer, class) and ‘cide’ (oxido, occido – to vanish oft. reacting with air, to massacre)."