Izium, a city in eastern Ukraine still visibly scarred from four years of Russian occupation, now faces the approach of Russian forces once more — a return not of the unknown, but of something already lived and survived. The people of Izium carry both the physical evidence and the psychological memory of what occupation costs, and it is against that backdrop of unhealed wounds that they must now decide whether to stay or flee. History, in this corner of the world, has not yet become the past.
Izium Braces for Russian Assault as Scars of Past Occupation Loom
Residents of Izium face potential displacement, casualties, and destruction of remaining infrastructure if Russian forces capture the city.