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Ukrainian 7-Year-Old Battling Leukemia Killed With Family in Iranian Strike on Israel
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
A Ukrainian family that had traveled to Israel in search of life-saving cancer treatment for their seven-year-old daughter was killed when an Iranian ballistic missile struck their apartment building near Tel Aviv.
This happened on the night of June 14 in the coastal suburb of Bat Yam, during a massive missile barrage launched by Iran, Ukrainian charity Krayina Dobrikh Sprav (“Country of Good Deeds”) reported on June 16.
The victims, originally from Odesa, were identified as 7-year-old Anastasiia Buryk, her mother Maria Peshkureva, her 60-year-old grandmother Olena, and Maria’s two nephews. The family had been staying in the apartment during the course of the child’s treatment.
“Our Nastya has become an angel…” reads a post from the Krayina Dobrikh Sprav, which had been helping fund the girl’s care.
“Just yesterday, we were preparing a post to share the good news that Nastya was doing a little better… Today, we must report that she and her mother died beneath the rubble of the home that was struck by a missile.”
Nastya had been diagnosed in August 2022 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a fast-progressing cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. Her family initially sought treatment in Ukraine, but after a relapse, they flew to Israel in December 2022, where doctors at a leading medical center offered new hope.
The young girl underwent chemotherapy and later received a bone marrow transplant. But the procedure failed, and her condition worsened.
Despite the growing costs and medical complications, her mother remained steadfast. “Since that day, I’ve lived in a parallel reality,” Maria wrote in one of her social media updates. “A reality where the only thing that matters is to save [her], to breathe, and not to give up.”
Maria’s husband, Artem Buryk, is a soldier in Ukraine’s 95th Airborne Assault Brigade. He has served on the front lines since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. He had been raising money for his daughter’s care through videos filmed from the battlefield.
Earlier this year, the family resumed treatment with a new therapy. Maria’s mother and nephews—ages 9 and 13—joined her in Israel to support Nastya during her final fight. The boys had been attending a local school in Bat Yam when the missile struck their residence.
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“We believed she’d be safer in Israel than in Odesa,” the family had previously said.
Ukraine’s embassy in Israel confirmed the fatalities. “On June 14, five Ukrainian citizens, including three minors, were killed in a massive Iranian missile attack on Israel,” the embassy said. “Ukrainian diplomats and consuls are in close contact with police and other services to identify the victims and organize the return of their bodies.”
The Iranian strike, which marked one of the most direct attacks from Tehran on Israeli territory, allegedly killed at least nine people in Bat Yam and injured more than 100 across the region.
Earlier, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry launched round-the-clock monitoring and evacuation planning for citizens in Israel and Iran, following the rapid deterioration of the security situation in the Middle East.
