Israeli rescue forces recovered on Thursday afternoon the remains of Maria Peshkurova, 31, a Ukrainian national who was killed when an Iranian missile hit a residential building in Bat Yam on June 15.
“A body was found at the site of the missile strike in the city and has been transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine,” the Bat Yam Municipality confirmed in a statement.
“It is believed to be Maria Peshkurova, 31 years old, who was killed as a result of the deadly impact. She is the ninth fatality in the incident, which has become the largest site of destruction ever caused by a missile strike in the State of Israel,” the central Israeli city stated.
The family came to Israel from Odessa on a medical tourism visa in 2022 “and became an integral part of the Bat Yam community,” it continued. “The Bat Yam Municipality shares in the family’s deep sorrow.”
Peshkurova’s daughter, Anastasia (Nastia) Borik, an 8-year-old first grader, was being treated for leukemia at Sheba Medical Center’s oncology unit.
The girl died along with her grandmother, Olena (Yelena) Peshkurova, 54, and her cousins, Konstantin Totvich, 10, and Ilya Peshkurov, 15.
Four Israelis were also killed in the pre-dawn missile attack. It was the single most lethal Iranian strike on Israel since the start of the fighting on June 13. In total, 24 civilians have been killed and hundreds have sustained injuries in more than 400 Iranian missile attacks across Israel.
