Off-duty New Zealand soldier Dominic Abelen was killed in Ukraine fighting with foreign troops and has been remembered as a tough professional "warrior" who "died doing what he loved". Video / NZ Herald
A former New Zealand soldier now fighting on Ukraine's front line is certain the body of New Zealand soldier Dominic Abelen is in Russian hands.
The man, who RNZ has agreed not to name, was a close friend of Abelen, who was killed alongside American Joshua Jones in the east of the country.
The New Zealand Government has not been able to say where the body is but the friend said it would be with Jones' - and the former soldier said he had seen evidence that Jones' body was with the Russian side.
"They've put in the media, photos of Josh's passport, Josh's Ukrainian military ID, and pictures of Joshua's body as well.
"We haven't received anything or seen anything like that with Dom's body, but it's safe to assume that'll be exactly the same, that they will have his body as well because they were right next to each other."
He was not sure what was happening regarding repatriation of either of the killed soldiers, but he understood the US State Department was in talks with the Russian government regarding the bodies.
The soldier and Abelen had talked about what each other wanted, should they not survive the war.
"This is something we talked about right in the beginning. I just asked him, you know, let's get this awkward s*** out of the way.
"If something was to happen to you, what do you want to have happen?
"He said, 'look, if you can get my body back to my parents and to my family, that's cool', and he said, 'but personally, I don't give a s*** ... I'm not there anymore, I'm gone'.
"Dom said he didn't want anyone to lose their lives to try and get him back."
The soldier said he had talked to the Abelen family and they agreed.
"Just like us, we all want to see Dom home ... but unless you're going to send a whole bunch of dudes out there to secure the whole area, push past it, you're not going to be able to get in there and take the two friends away from a place which is set up 10 to 15 metres away from the Russian position. It's just not going to happen."
The soldier said to have someone like Abelen in Ukraine was extraordinary.
"He was a consummate professional. He was fearless, strong, handsome. You just never felt like you had enough time with him.
"You just never got sick of him being around ... him being sick of you, on the other hand, that's probably another thing."
Corporal Dominic Abelen, 30, served with 2nd/1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (RNZIR) based in Burnham. Photo / Supplied
"Not just for his combat ability and what he did on that day, but just in the way that he holds people together.
"Hero is a very very tame way to put it, he's so much more."
Since his death, the soldier said more New Zealanders wanted to join the fight in Ukraine.
"If they do make it to a legion, either a battalion or to another unit is that they have to understand that this place is beautiful, but it's also terrible.
"Some of the places that they'll go to, it's their own special kind of hell.
"So think about the life that they have now, and also think about the lives of their families as well, because as we've seen, it can absolutely tear a family apart or turn their lives upside down.
