A group of former New Zealand service personnel are planning to escort two Ukrainian New Zealanders back to their war-torn country, as bombs fall dangerously close to their family and friends.
Ex-New Zealand soldier Kane Te Tai said a group of at least four former Defence Force staff were preparing to protect and potentially defend the Ukrainians on the journey, then administer humanitarian aid in the conflict, he said.
The New Zealand Government is advising Kiwis against travelling to Ukraine, saying they could not provide protection in the war against Russia which has already claimed thousands of lives.
Te Tai fought in Afghanistan and was a serving soldier until 2010. While he is planning to train his friends in reacting to conflict and evacuating safely, Te Tai says he is not intending to actively fight himself.
He hopes to join a contact who is driving a bus to bombed housing blocks and hospitals in Lviv, near the Polish border, evacuating children, adults and the elderly from the buildings.
Te Tai and others in the group have experience in this, he said, as well as administering advanced first-aid.
“We are all from different parts of the military with different experiences. This is not a huge stretch for us, our minds have already been to that place where we understand the lay of the land. We understand what we have to do and what we are risking.
“Our aim is to get in there and help out in any way we can, obviously without having to shoot and kill anybody.”
But he would be prepared to defend himself militarily and his Ukrainian friends if they were attacked, he said.
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The group is planning to fly to Europe in about a month, then reach Ukraine overland, potentially via Warsaw. But the route to Ukraine is treacherous, Te Tai said, they might not be allowed in, and others have been assaulted and held up on their way there.
They are not being paid by anyone but are fundraising through a Givealittle page for equipment including bulletproof vests, helmets, eye and ear protection. Money is also being used to support the families being left behind here, he said.
Te Tai said he is aware this could be “a one-way trip”.
“Once again it’s not a game...once you get there, and you go past Poland, and you end up inside the Ukraine, there’s a very good chance you’re not leaving even if you wanted to leave.”
He is adamant it is not “combat tourism” for him, and has warned against other former soldiers joining him for that reason.
Seeing so many Ukrainians’ staunch determination to return home inspired him.
Anton Malyarov, one of the two Ukrainians planning to return, said deciding to fight against Russia was a “matter of conscience” for him.
The 41-year-old metalworker left Ukraine when he was 8, and is now a New Zealand citizen, but believes fighting against Russia is the right thing to do.
“I don’t want to feel guilty for the rest of my life,” he said.
Malyarov is from Mykolaiv, a town near Odesa in south-west Ukraine. Supermarkets, pharmacies and other civilian buildings have been bombed indiscriminately by Russians, he said. He had heard reports of a carload of early childhood teachers being shot at, and 70 bodies being found at one morgue recently.
“My family is in danger, they are right next to the front line...it is really dire.”
Malyarov’s grandparents, in their eighties, are hiding out in basements to shelter from the bombs. The conditions are crammed, Covid-19 is spreading, and last time Malyarov spoke to his grandmother she was coughing.
He feels helpless watching the destruction from New Zealand, and realises he may be killed if he returns.
“This is the hardest decision of my life, and I’m not taking it lightly.”
Tens of thousands of foreigners have volunteered to fight for Ukraine already – with 16,000 having signed up to the “international legion” by March 3, according to The Washington Post.
More than 500 Kiwis have offered to fight there too, Ukrainian honorary consul in New Zealand Oleksandr Kirichuk previously said.
The Ukrainian Government has put out a call for the foreign volunteers, but experts warn that is highly dangerous.
The New Zealand Government has urged people not to travel to the Ukraine to join the international legion or take part in military action.
“The Government’s clear view is that New Zealanders should not travel to Ukraine for that purpose but ultimately MFAT cannot stop people from travelling,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said.
New Zealand’s ability to provide consular assistance in the “extremely dangerous” country is very limited.
“The New Zealand Government is not able to evacuate people.”
Law lecturer Dr Marnie Lloydd, who researches foreign fighters and international law, said there was no specific law preventing people from volunteering to fight or administer humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
There is an anti-mercenary law, which applies to very specific categories, and counter-terrorism laws, but only if someone is engaging in terrorism.
Doing that is of “great risk” to both the people fighting and the civilian population.
“If someone ended up fighting then they must follow international humanitarian law, the laws set out in the Geneva Conventions, a serious violation of those laws could be a war crime.”
