A cancer charity that helped a 7-year-old girl with leukemia flee war-torn Ukraine to receive treatment in Israel has spoken of an “indescribable” tragedy after she was killed in an Iranian airstrike on the city of Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, on Sunday.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Nastya Borik was killed alongside four members of her family: her mother Mariia, 30, her grandmother Lena, 60, and her two cousins — Ilya, 13, and Konstantin, 9. Ukrainian authorities said Sunday that five Ukrainian citizens were killed in the attack, but they did not release any details.
Evgenia Virovlianski, a volunteer with the organization “Chance 4 life” who had been helping Nastya’s family, told CNN that her death should never have happened.
“It shouldn’t have ended that way, it shouldn’t have happened at all. It’s indescribable that a family that escaped the war in Ukraine, that was brought here to be looked after, in this safe space… and it all ends like that? How can you even begin to grasp and process this?” Virovlianski said.
Last celebration: She said that volunteers from the charity had seen Nastya just last week, at the birthday of another child treated by the organization. “The volunteers were overjoyed that Nasty made it there, it was such a pleasant night with so much joy,” she said.
Virovlianski continued, “On the night it happened, we all stayed in our shelter and realized something had happened due to the blasts.”
“Then we saw the address of the impact scene looked familiar, but still hoped everything was fine, and that all we needed to do was to pick the family up and help them find an alternative place to stay. They didn’t pick up their phones, but we didn’t really know what had happened until they were found.”
Some background: Herzog said the family came to Israel in December 2022 because Nastya needed treatment. “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,” he added.
Nastya’s father, Artem Borik, is currently serving in the Ukrainian army, fighting Russia on the front line in Ukraine, Herzog said.
