Sister cities of Izium

Izium (Ukrainian: Ізюм; also spelled Izium, Izum, Izyum; literally raisins), is a city situated on the Donets River in the Kharkiv Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Iziumsky Raion (district), the city is located approximately 75 miles (120 km) southeast of the oblast capital, Kharkiv.

First mentioned in 1571 in connection with the Izium Warpath of the Crimean Tatars, Izyum was a significant centre of the Sloboda Ukraine and home to a regiment of Cossacks between 1688 and 1765. The delight of the visitor to the town is the five-domed Baroque cathedral of the Saviour's Transfiguration (1684). Its remarkable similarity to the old cathedral of Kharkov suggests the hand of the same master. The cathedral was renovated in 1902 and restored in 1955. The churches of Ascension (1819-21) and of St. Nicholas (1809-23) rank among the finest Neoclassical buildings in the region.

During World War II, the Red Army held a large bridgehead here, allowing for a salient that was cut off by counterattacking German forces and eliminated in one of the most expensive learning errors for the Red Army.