During September 2022, the
Armed Forces of Ukraine staged a
counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast.
Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi was regained on September 27. On September 30, Ukrainian soldiers found the remnants of a convoy in the outskirts of
Kurylivka. Bodies of civilians were discovered in six cars and a van heading towards
Pishchane. Following news reports, seven witnesses came forward who had escaped to the village of
Kivsharivka. According to them, on the morning of September 25, their evacuation convoy left Kurylivka in the direction of
Svatove,
Starobilsk, through what they believed was the only road open. At around 9 o'clock, their column was ambushed by a group of Russian soldiers which shot at the convoy from both sides. Small arms were used to kill the wounded and those who tried to escape. Police officers subsequently identified the bodies as local residents. Among the dead was the organizer of the refugee convoy who had charged ₴6,000 per evacuee and was a former resident of
Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi. Twelve of the dead had been named by October 20, 2022. The final death toll was 26 people. == References ==