A Ukrainian family who came to Israel to treat their daughter for cancer is killed
19 June 2025 09:08
A Ukrainian family from Odesa, who had come to Israel for treatment of a seven-year-old girl with cancer, was killed in a rocket attack in the Tel Aviv suburbs. The tragedy was reported by the charitable foundation “Country of Good Deeds,” "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
According to Israeli media, the victims were: Nastya Burik (7 years old), her grandmother Elena Peshkurova (60), her mother Maria Peshkurova (30), and her two maternal nephews, Konstantin Tutvich (9) and Ilya Peshkurov (13). Both children studied at Bat Yam school – in the third and seventh grades.
“Yesterday we were preparing a publication for the collection, we were in a hurry to report the news that Nastya was feeling a little better. That hope was not lost. That the treatment was giving a small but still improvement… And today we have to report that Nastya is no more. The girl died with her mother under the rubble of the house where they were staying in Tel Aviv. A rocket hit the house,” the statement said.
The girl was in Israel for treatment for cancer. This was confirmed by the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak.
“Iran killed seven-year-old Anastasia Burik, her mother, two other children in Bat Yam, Israel, with a missile strike on a residential building – 4 dead and one person missing,” the Head of the Presidential Office said in a statement.
Andriy Yermak said that the girl was waiting for a bone marrow transplant.
According to volunteers, Nastia’s cancer was diagnosed in the summer of 2022, a few months after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. In December of the same year, the family flew to Israel, where the child was admitted to one of the leading oncology clinics.
Nastia was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in August 2022, when she was five years old. After a relapse, the family turned to Israeli doctors. In Ukraine, they could not provide the necessary treatment, so in Tel Aviv, they developed an individualized protocol for her with the participation of specialists from Europe and the United States, according to a January post on Nastia’s mother’s Facebook page.
Nastya underwent intensive treatment, including a bone marrow transplant. According to the volunteers, the fight for her life lasted more than a year and required superhuman efforts on the part of the entire family.
The Embassy of Ukraine in Israel is trying to organize the delivery of the bodies to their homeland, which is technically impossible due to the lack of air service. In a statement, the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel emphasized that the diplomatic staff is in close contact with Israeli authorities to help solve the problem.
The father is a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The girl’s father was in Ukraine at the time of the tragedy. He serves in the 95th Air Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is actively involved in combat operations.
