Minister of Defence Peeni
Henare expressed sorrow and condolences to the family of Dominic Abelen.
Support would be provided to
the family, he said. He wanted to stress at no point in time, no NZDF personnel
had been authorised to go into Ukraine to fight.
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Nanaia Mahuta also conveyed condolences to the family.
Consular support from Warsaw
was being offered, she said. Asked about the circumstances of Abelen’s death,
Henare said “we know very little” and work was being done with both
his and Mahuta’s agencies to work out what happened.
“The job now is to find
out more details. The entire situation is a complicated one,” Henare said.
He said he considered every
NZDF member heroes. Henare was advised that no NZDF people on leave would be
travelling to Ukraine and that option was banned by the defence force.
He said it would be difficult
to check in with all members on leave without pay as to whether they are in
Ukraine or not as there were no set check-in requirements.
