Jaŭhien Skurko was born into a wealthy[1] peasant family in a khutor about a kilometer away from the village Piĺkaŭščyna (Belarusian: Пількаўшчына), now in Myadzyel District, Minsk Oblast, Belarus.

[3] In late 1932, he illegally crossed the border with the Soviet Union and joined Belarusian underground group in Minsk.

After his return, he was an activist of the illegal youth branch of the Communist Party of West Belarus in Wilno and Navahrudak.

After the annexation of West Belarus by the Soviet Union, Skurko worked as a culture journalist and as an education administrator in Vilejka.

[3] After the beginning of the war, Skurko was evacuated to Saratov and then returned to the Bryansk Front to work as a reporter for several Soviet publications.