Nastya Borik, a 7-year-old Ukrainian girl who had traveled to Israel for leukemia treatment was killed alongside four members of her family in an Iranian missile strike on the Israeli city of Bat Yam, on Sunday. Israeli President Isaac Herzog, in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) confirmed the death of the young girl.
The young girl with her family fled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and arrived in Israel in December 2022 for better medical treatment. According to the Israeli President Herzog, the family had relocated to Israel so Nastya could receive treatment for cancer.
“Although she initially responded, the disease returned and a bone marrow transplant failed to stop the aggressive leukemia,” Herzog said. “She came seeking life. Instead, she was murdered.”
The Iranian strike also killed Nastya’s mother, Mariia Peshkurova, 30; her grandmother, Lena Peshkurova, 60; and her two cousins, Ilya Peshkurov, 13, and Konstantin Totvich, 9. Ukrainian authorities also confirmed on Sunday that five Ukrainian citizens had been killed, however avoided releasing the names of the victims.
Reports mention that Nastya was unable to walk and had to move around in a stroller due to the cancer she was suffering from.
On her Instagram page, Nastya’s mother, Mariia, had regularly shared updates about her daughter’s condition. In one post she revealed that Nastya was first diagnosed with leukemia in August 2022 and had since undergone intensive treatment in Ukraine and Israel.
“Since that day, I have been living in a parallel reality where the main thing is to save her. To breathe. To not give up,” she wrote in a post in April.
In a note that Mariia shared on her Instagram, she notes that Nastya suffered a relapse in September 2024 and again in April 2025. In her final Instagram post, dated May 27, Mariia mentioned that she would save her daughter “no matter what it takes.”
“I will save my daughter, no matter what it takes… Because no one else will fight like I will. Because Nastya is my life. She is all I have. And as long as I breathe, I scream, I beg, I believe, I fight.”
Mariia was initially reported missing after the missile strike, as three of her family members was confirmed dead.
Nastya’s father, Artem Borik, serves in Ukraine’s military. Borik is fighting Russia on the front lines as part of the Storm Brigade. He had raised funds in Ukraine for his daughter’s cancer treatment but was unable to accompany the family to Israel due to wartime restrictions.
Instead, Lena Peshkurova, Nastya’s grandmother, had traveled with Mariia to Israel to help care for Nastya, bringing along her two grandsons, Konstantin and Ilya. All five family members were killed in the attack.
Also Read: ‘Never Too Late To Negotiate’: Germany Urges Iran to Step Back from the Brink and Return to Nuclear Talks
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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