Ukrainian girl receiving cancer treatment in Israel killed in Iranian missile strike

A seven-year-old Ukrainian girl receiving life-saving treatment for leukemia in Israel was among the victims of an Iranian missile strike that hit a residential building in Bat Yam early on Sunday morning.

Nastia Borik was named on Wednesday as one of nine people killed when a ballistic missile, launched by the Islamic Republic of Iran, struck the apartment block in the town south of Tel Aviv.

She had arrived in Israel in 2022 from war-torn Odesa.

Nastia lived in Bat Yam with her mother, Maria Peshkurova, 30; her grandmother, Olena Peshkurova, 60; and her two cousins, Konstantin Totvich, 9, and Ilya Peshkurov, 13. According to Israeli media reports, Nastia, Olena, Konstantin and Ilya were killed in the strike, while Maria remains missing.

[Missing Credit]

Maria had publicly shared details of her daughter’s illness on Facebook in 2022. “On August 29, 2022, we heard the terrible news: ‘Your daughter has cancer,’” she wrote. “Since that day, I have been living in a parallel reality, where the main thing is to save. To breathe. To not give up.”

Nastia initially underwent chemotherapy in Ukraine, which improved her condition, but she later relapsed. In need of specialist treatment, Maria brought her daughter to Israel, where Nastia received a bone marrow transplant. But the leukemia returned.

Earlier this year, Nastia’s grandmother Olena flew to Israel to support the family. Reported in the New York Post, she brought Nastia’s cousins, Konstantin and Ilya, who were enrolled in local schools. Despite the October 7 attacks, Israel was considered safer than Odesa.

According to Haaretz, Nastia had difficulty walking due to her illness and used a walking aid.

[Missing Credit]

The missile strike that killed her came during a barrage launched by Iran against Israel and is known to have claimed the lives of nine people.

According to Ynet, Nastia’s father, Artem, remains in Ukraine, where he is serving in the elite 95th Airborne Assault Brigade. Ukrainian law has barred most military-age men from leaving the country since the Russian invasion.