Yachts, dinghies, kayaks and even a beagle on a paddleboard converged on Helena Bay on Sunday calling for an end to the war in Ukraine — and to urge Russian steel magnate Alexander Abramov, who owns a luxury lodge at the secluded Northland bay, to pressure President Vladimir Putin to halt the invasion. The Ukraine Peace Flotilla brought together vessels from Coromandel, Auckland, Whangārei and the Bay of Islands, as well as protest veterans who in decades past had sailed to Moruroa Atoll in a bid to stop French nuclear testing. Photos by the Northern Advocate.
