Warnings are being sounded about the potential consequences for New Zealanders fighting in Ukraine, following the death of a soldier on unpaid leave.
Dominic Abelen was killed earlier last week in a firefight with Russian forces, leading the NZ Defence Force to issue a reminder to all other soldiers on unpaid leave that they cannot join the conflict.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it is unable to comment on plans to repatriate Corporal Dominic Abelen’s body as it cannot comment on consular cases for privacy reasons.
New Zealand freelance journalist Tom Mutch, who has spent most of the war on the ground in Ukraine, told Q+A the risks attached to being captured are also high.
“What they [the Russians] do with foreign legion soldiers is they usually portray them as foreign mercenaries, who are not legitimate combatants in their eyes – that means they’re allowed to not treat them as prisoners of war under the Geneva conventions,” said Mutch.
He said there are examples of this happening to British people captured at the end of the siege of Mariupol.
Mutch said these men had now been handed over to the breakaway "people’s republics" in Luhansk and Donetsk, where several had now been sentenced to death.
READ MORE: Returning Kiwi's body from conflict zone challenging – sources
He said if a New Zealander was captured, they’d probably be handed over “to try and get the New Zealand government to negotiate with those republics, thereby giving them some form of international legitimacy.”
Mutch said the vast majority of those serving in Ukraine’s international legions have previous military service, often in combat.
It is believed there are a handful of New Zealanders currently fighting in Ukraine, or in associated logistics roles, however exact numbers are unclear.
No active duty NZDF personnel have been deployed to Ukraine, however several dozen have been deployed to nearby countries in support roles.
Dr Marnie Lloydd, a researcher into foreign fighting and international law at Victoria University says it is “good” the NZDF is reminding people of their advisories not to travel to Ukraine.
She says it isn’t feasible for the Government to keep tabs on what every New Zealander is doing when they go overseas.
“Even though foreign enlistment is lawful under New Zealand law, as we've seen it can raise some sensitivities,” she said.
“It's precisely for that reason that the NZDF has these internal rules requesting soldiers on leave to report on their planned activities for that leave."
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