Ukrainian Family's Tragic Fate Amid Israeli Conflict

A Ukrainian family seeking refuge from war perished in an Iranian missile attack in Israel, highlighting the tragic intertwining of global conflicts.

In a tragic twist of fate, a family of five Ukrainians who sought sanctuary in Israel fell victim to an Iranian missile strike. Mariia Pieshkurova had hoped that Israel would be a safe haven for her 7-year-old daughter, Anastasiia, who required urgent medical treatment for advanced leukemia—a service that had become scarce in war-torn Ukraine. Alongside her daughter were Anastasiia’s cousins, Kostiantyn and Illia, and their grandmother, all believing that Bat Yam, a suburb of Tel Aviv, would provide them the refuge they desperately needed from the ongoing violence in Ukraine.

On June 15, their hopes were shattered when an Iranian missile struck their residential building in Bat Yam, killing all five family members and triggering waves of grief and outrage back in Ukraine. This tragedy serves as a stark reminder of how these two wars—one in Ukraine fueled by Russian aggression, and the other a complex conflict between Israel and Iran—are inextricably linked through geopolitics, with Iran supplying Russia’s military efforts in Ukraine.

The family's heartbreaking demise underscores the cruel irony of their situation; they traveled to one of the world’s most fortified nations, known for its advanced air defense systems, only to find themselves victims of an escalating conflict between Iran and Israel. “I really thought they’d be safe,” reflected Artem Buryk, Anastasiia’s father and Mariia's ex-partner. “I never thought they’d go to Israel to escape war — and find it there.”