Ukrainian Girl Battling Leukemia Among Victims of Iranian Missile Strike on Bat Yam
A recent missile attack on central Israel has claimed the lives of several civilians, including a young child and her family who had sought refuge and medical care. The tragedy underscores the devastating human toll of ongoing regional hostilities.
In one of the most heartbreaking moments of the recent Iranian missile assault on central Israel, a Ukrainian family that had immigrated to Israel seeking life-saving medical treatment for their 7-year-old daughter was wiped out in a direct strike on their home in Bat Yam. This cruel and senseless attack took the lives of five family members, including little Anastasia (Nastya) Burik, a child battling leukemia who had come to Israel in search of hope.
Nastya, just 7 years old, suffered from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Her family, not Jewish, arrived from Odesa, Ukraine, in December 2022 with the sole mission of saving her life. Despite the family’s sacrifice and courage in uprooting their lives, Nastya’s condition worsened in recent months. A bone marrow transplant had recently failed, and yet, she continued to fight. Friends and neighbors recall a determined, kind-hearted child who refused to use a wheelchair despite her immense pain, insisting on walking under her own strength.
The missile that struck their Bat Yam apartment building late Saturday night ended that fight. Alongside Nastya, her grandmother Olena Sokolova (54), her two cousins, 13-year-old Ilya Peshkorov and 10-year-old Konstantin Totvich, and her mother Maria Peshkoryova (30) were all inside the apartment when the missile struck. Ilya and Konstantin were both enrolled in local schools in Bat Yam and had begun to build new lives in Israel. Maria was initially reported missing, but on Wednesday, authorities confirmed her death.
This massacre was not a battlefield casualty. It was the deliberate targeting of Israeli civilian neighborhoods by the Iranian regime. Nastya and her family were a vulnerable family seeking help, safety, and healing, and instead found horror and death.
Nastya’s father, Artem Burik, serves in the Ukrainian Army’s Storming Brigade and is currently deployed on the front lines in Ukraine’s war against Russia. He was unable to reach Israel in time. Maria’s father also remains in Ukraine due to the conflict. The family’s suffering spans continents.
In the same strike, four other Israeli civilians were murdered: Michael (Miki) Nahum (61), Meir (Miro) Vaknin (53), Bella Ashkenazi (94), and Efrat Saranga (44). Each life stolen by the hands of a regime that continues to rain terror indiscriminately on Israel’s civilian population.
Just hours before the missile hit, Maria posted an Instagram story showing Nastya sitting on her bed, answering questions and smiling despite her illness. Now that room lies in rubble. Israeli authorities continue to survey the damage and recover the remains.
The people of Israel grieve not just for Nastya and her family but for the tragic reality that brought them here: a child seeking care, a family seeking sanctuary, murdered by a government that targets the innocent to make a statement of hatred.
This tragedy is yet another example of the barbaric cruelty of Iran’s regime and its relentless war on the Jewish state and all who dwell in it. It is a reminder that behind every statistic and headline are names, faces, and stories. Nastya’s short life was one of bravery and resilience. Her death, like the others, must not be forgotten.
May their memories be a blessing
