Hope Turned Tragedy as 7-Year-Old Ukrainian Cancer Girl, Family's Lives Cut Short By Iranian Missile Strike After Fleeing to Israel For Treatment
By: Israel Adeleke
OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports as gathered that a seven-year-old Ukrainian girl, Nastya Buryk, who fled to Israel in search of life-saving cancer treatment, was tragically killed alongside her family in an Iranian missile strike on the Israeli city of Bat Yam.
OTN News further reports as gathered that Nastya, who had been battling lymphoblastic leukaemia, a rare and aggressive blood cancer, died on June 15 when a missile launched by Iran struck the apartment block where her family was staying.
OTN News learnt that the attack claimed the lives of her mother, Maria Peshkureva, her 60-year-old grandmother Olena, and her two brothers, Konstantin, 9, and Ilya, 13.
OTN News further learnt that the family had relocated to Israel in hopes of securing better medical treatment and safety amid Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine.
OTN News also learnt that Nastya, from Odesa, was first diagnosed in 2022 and underwent chemotherapy in Ukraine. However, her condition improved but she later relapsed.
As her health worsened, her family searched for more specialist treatment and, thanks to charitable donations, they sought medical care in Israel, where Nastya had a bone marrow transplant.
Subsequently, the procedure was unsuccessful and her leukaemia returned.
Earlier this year, her family turned to a new treatment in Israel, while her grandmother, Olena, 60, and two brothers, Konstantin and Ilya, nine and 13, flew from Ukraine to be with her. Both of the boys attended a local school.
Her family believed they would be safer in Israel than Odesa, which has suffered deadly shelling from Russian forces.
Nastya’s father, Artem Buryk, who remained in Kyiv, serving with Ukraine’s 95th Airborne Assault Brigade, had been documenting his frontline experience in appeals for international donations to fund his daughter’s treatment, which included chemotherapy in Ukraine and a bone marrow transplant in Israel.
OTN News also learnt that her mother before losing her life, had shared on social media, her daughter's health crisis, describing the emotional toll of her daughter’s diagnosis.
However, the sad reality done on them as missiles from Iran stroke the department to which they stay, killings the little girl and her family.
Ukraine’s embassy in Israel who confirmed the incident, stating, “on June 14, five Ukrainian citizens, including three minors, were killed in a massive Iranian missile attack on Israel, with a missile hitting a residential building in the city of Bat Yam.” added that "the strike that killed Nastya and her family also left four other civilians dead and over 100 wounded."
“Ukrainian diplomats and consuls are in close contact with the police and other services to identify and organise the process of returning the bodies of the dead.” the embassy added.
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