A historical source testifies that the year 1663 is listed as the date of foundation of the settlement Verbovoye. Later, the Cherkasy (
Little Russians) who arrived and settled there renamed the village Kozinka. According to archaeological finds, the village has a more ancient history, as evidenced by the arrowheads found in the left-bank part of the village, belonging to the
Scythian culture. In 1896, in honor of the accession and marriage of
Emperor Nicholas II, the village's inhabitants began the construction of a church in the name of
John the Apostle.
2023–24 incursions In May 2023, during the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, the governor of
Belgorod Oblast,
Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that Ukrainian "sabotage groups" entered
Grayvoronsky District. Ukrainian media reported that the cross-border excursion was by Russian rebel opposition groups, the
Russian Volunteer Corps and the
Freedom of Russia Legion. The militants claimed to have captured the villages of Kozinka and
Gora-Podol. They were later forced out of the villages. In March 2024, during an incursion from Ukraine, the
Siberian Battalion raised its flag in Kozinka, together with the Russian Volunteer Corps. On 20 March 2024, the
Russian defence ministry claimed that pro-Kremlin forces had "fully cleared" Kozinka from the "militants", killing 650 of them with "air strikes and artillery fire." German milblogger Julian Roepke assessed that the Russian military had air-dropped high-explosive
FAB-500 bombs in its efforts. Kozinka was practically destroyed by Russian bombing. According to a villager, "There is not a single whole house left" in Kozinka. == References ==