Izium or Izyum ( uk, Ізюм, ; russian: Изюм) is a city on the

Donets River The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Don ...

Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast ( uk, Харківська́ о́бласть, translit=Kharkivska oblast), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna ( uk, Ха́рківщина), is an oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luh ...

(

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

) of eastern

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

. It serves as the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of Izium Raion (

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

). Izium hosts the administration of Izium urban hromada, one of the

hromada A hromada ( uk, територіальна громада, lit=territorial community, translit=terytorialna hromada) is a basic unit of administrative division in Ukraine, similar to a municipality. It was established by the Government of Ukra ...

s of Ukraine. It is about southeast of the oblast capital,

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

. Izium had a population of

History

In 1681, a

Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

fortress was built within a small settlement, which marks the foundation date of Izium.Изюм // Украинская Советская Энциклопедия. том 4. Киев, «Украинская Советская энциклопедия», 1980. стр.231 It grew to be an important defense against

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

invasions of the region. In 1684 the five-domed

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

cathedral of the Saviour's Transfiguration was built. The cathedral was renovated in 1902 and restored in 1955. In 1765, Izium became a city, and in 1780 became an administrative center of

Izyumsky Uyezd Izyumsky Uyezd (; uk, Ізюмський повіт) was one of the subdivisions of the Kharkov Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southeastern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Izium (Izyum). Demograph ...

, one of the subdivisions of the

Kharkov Governorate The Kharkov Governorate ( pre-reform Russian: , tr. ''Khárkovskaya gubérniya'', IPA: �xarʲkəfskəjə ɡʊˈbʲernʲɪjə ) was a governorate of the Russian Empire founded in 1835. It embraced the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine. Fr ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

. The churches of Ascension (1819–21) and of St. Nicholas (1809–23) rank among the finest Neoclassical buildings in the region. In the second half of the 19th century, the city's main exports were wool, sold to

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

and

Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administrativel ...

, and building materials sold to Taganrog. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Izium was the site of numerous important battles. A

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

salient was cut off by counterattacking German forces (during the Second Battle of Kharkiv) and was eliminated in one of the most expensive learning errors for the Red Army. Izium was occupied by the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

from 24 June 1942 until it was liberated on 5 February 1943. The Germans operated a Nazi prison in the city. Izium expanded rapidly in the 20th century due to its importance as a junction between Kharkiv and the Donets Basin. In January 1989 the population was 64,334 people, up from 12,000 in 1926. In January 2013, its population was 51,511 people. To comply with decommunization laws, the local "

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

Square" was renamed "

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

Square" in February 2016. Until 18 July 2020, Izium was incorporated as a city of oblast significance and served as the administrative center of Izium Raion, though it did not belong to the raion. In July 2020, the city of Izium was merged into Izium Raion, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Kharkiv Oblast to seven. Izium was the site of sporadic fighting during the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in 2014. The Sloviansk-Izium highway was referred to as the "highway of death" by locals during the summer of 2014. Large-scale fighting halted once Ukrainian forces liberated Sloviansk. In May 2022, Russian forces attempted to cross the Siverskyi Donets River and advance south. Ukrainian forces rebuffed the attempted river crossing with substantial Russian losses. However, after the Battle of Izium Russia gained control of the city. Ukraine began a counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region in early September 2022, during which Izium was liberated. After liberation from the Russian invaders, local police officers found a mass grave of 440 bodies. More than 80% of the town infrastructure is destroyed; about 70% of multi-storey buildings are destroyed. The town administration estimates that all in all, about 1,000 people lost their lives under the Russian occupation.

Geography

Climate

The

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

subtype for this climate is " Dfb", warm summer continental climate.

Gallery

File:Izyum central square.jpg, Izium City Hall File:Monomakh-Ihor sign.JPG, A monument commemorating the battle of Vladimir Monomakh against

Polovtsians The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many sough ...

File:Soborna, 6 (Izium).JPG, A historical building in Izium File:Spartak cinema.JPG, The Spartak cinema File:Церква Вознесіння (Ізюм) 2.JPG, The Ascension Church File:Спасо-Преображенський собор, Ізюм (3).JPG, The Transfiguration Church File:Izium Church.jpg, The Holy Cross Church File:Криниця у Ізюмі.jpg, A holy well in Izium File:Izium railway station.jpg, Izyum railway station

References

External links