Two Kiwi reservist soldiers might be in Ukraine, says NZDF

The New Zealand Defence Force said two reserve soldiers "may be in Ukraine". Pictured is a Ukrainian soldier helping a wounded comrade in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine. Photo / AP

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has confirmed today that two reserve soldiers "may be in Ukraine".

The discovery was the result of an investigation following the death of Corporal Dominic Abelen in Ukraine in August of this year.

Abelen died fighting Russian forces while on leave without pay and was not on active duty.

NZDF today said in a statement that the vast majority of personnel on unpaid leave have now been contacted and none of those on leave without pay are believed to be in Ukraine.

However, the investigation also uncovered information from the families of soldiers and through social media posts that two Reserve Army soldiers, both Lance Corporals, may be in Ukraine, or had been previously.

One soldier resigned from the Regular Force earlier this year and then opted to be in the "Standby Reserve". Standby Reserves are not posted to formed units and do not participate in military training.

The second soldier was an Army Reserve soldier with the 5/7 Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment (RNZIR), which is one of the Army's reserve infantry battalions.

The NZDF has no verifiable information about the current status of the two men, including whether they are still in Ukraine, their location in that country, nor what they are or were specifically doing there, a spokesperson said.

Neither soldier sought any form of permission to travel to Ukraine.

The spokesperson said that the Army Reserve's 3000 strong personnel, 2000 of which are reservists, are being contacted via their chain of command to remind them of their obligations.

The NZDF said any uniformed personnel are required to notify their chain of command of international travel plans when taking leave without pay, however, are not required to check in routinely.

Abelen, 28, was killed fighting alongside other members of Ukraine's foreign legion.

It was later revealed he didn't tell his New Zealand military commanders or his family that he was going off to fight in the war-torn European country.

Dominic Abelen, from the Royal NZ Infantry Regiment's 2/1 Battalion, was killed in Ukraine. Photo / Facebook