[6] Skurnik's unit was participating in the combined Finnish–German offensive from Kiestinki to Loukhi, which was one of the costliest actions in the early phase of the Continuation War.

The strength of the Finnish Infantry Regiment 54 had been reduced from 2,800 to 800 during the heavy fighting in August 1941, and it has been estimated that the field hospital with seven doctors where Skurnik was stationed received a hundred wounded men each day.

[7] In September 1941, Skurnik organized the evacuation of a field hospital in heavy Soviet artillery shelling near Kiestinki, saving the lives of 600 wounded men, including Waffen-SS members.

[2] Discontent with having to work with the German troops later contributed to Skurnik requesting a transfer to the Uhtua front in the summer of 1942.

[7] Finnish military history author, Colonel Wolf H. Halsti, lauded Skurnik's loyalty as surpassing a military doctor's usual duties, as Skurnik went to rescue wounded soldiers from no man's land when nobody else had the courage to do so.