Kiwis considering joining the Ukraine International Legion have been told to stay off social media – and insist family and friends don’t post anything suggesting they’re going – amid widespread online targeting of foreign fighters.

That includes photos and video of dead soldiers being sent to loved ones, blackmail attempts targeting families of foreign fighters, personal details being revealed on Russian social media sites, and social media accounts of fighters and families being bombarded with abuse.

The Herald has cited a case where an Auckland-based former Ukraine International Legion member has been targeted by Russian supporters after returning home injured.

February 24 marks the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.

Over that time dozens of Kiwis – those with or without military experience – have signed up to fight with the legion.

Former MP and Defence Minister Ron Mark – who made his fifth visit to the war-torn nation in September – says posting on social media is “not a good thing” for Kiwis who are heading there and for their families back in New Zealand.

That includes the potential perils of a relative making a seemingly innocent post online about a loved one heading off to Ukraine and wishing for them to stay safe.

Former Defence Minister Ron Mark is well aware of the risks Kiwis fighting in Ukraine – and their families back home – face from Russian supporters. Photo / Neil Reid

“People learn the hard way,” Mark told the Herald.

“They may think their page is closed and they may talk about their sister [or] nephew.”

But Mark said Russian intelligence was actively searching social media for any potential identities of foreigners heading to Ukraine to take up arms.

A 2025 study by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – an independent organisation based in The Hague whose work includes focusing on the intersection of countering violent extremism and criminal justice sector responses – highlighted the nefarious ways “Russian or pro-Russian individuals” were using social media.

Titled Testimonies of Victims of Russian (Extremist) Doxing, researchers interviewed a variety of unnamed foreign fighters and volunteers.

Findings included the social media accounts of foreign fighters and their loved ones being “doxed” – an act that had them revealed on Russian online Telegram accounts – and then flooded with abuse.

Kiwi aid worker Owen Pomana (right) has seen ghastly footage posted on Russian channels of some of his volunteers dying. Photo / Supplied

The research paper featured a claim that a Canadian fighter killed by a Russian sniper had been “targeted” after his online posts.

Some family members had been sent incorrect messages claiming their loved ones had died in action, while scammers had also tried to “blackmail” relatives of fighters, claiming their loved ones were being held captive by Russian troops and would be “subjected to harsh treatment” unless they paid $25,000.

‘An enemy of Russia’

Mark said it was clear from his own research since first visiting Ukraine in May 2022, that any posts from either people heading there or from their families about their travel left them open to being targeted.

That includes by Russian-based Telegram channel TracANaziMerc, which has targeted at least one fighter who travelled from New Zealand to join the Ukraine International Legion.

The post – seen by the Herald – features the soldier’s name, photo, a link to his Facebook page and other background.

It also revealed he was “badly wounded” while fighting in 2023 and how he had returned to New Zealand, and contained several derogatory comments.

The TracANaziMerc has also shared photos and details of the deaths of some of the four New Zealand soldiers killed in Ukraine.

Mark has also been targeted, labelled an enemy of Russia in a profile on him posted on the Russophobes website created by a group described as “patriots”.

“There are Russian lines like Tracker Merc that label anyone who’s a foreign soldier fighting for Ukraine as a mercenary. And they delight in putting up live video footage of kills,” Mark said.

“And they will emphasise if they killed a Canadian, or if they killed a Kiwi or if they killed an Australian.

“And the videos they post are pretty unedited. They are raw, they are brutal. No one likes to see video footage of their son or nephew being chopped up by a drone. But that is war and that is what the Russians are doing.”

He said some New Zealanders made sure they had no social media presence when they left for Ukraine or had “cut it right back” by locking down accounts.

The profile of former Defence Minister Ron Mark added to a website that lists those deemed by "patriots" of Russia to be enemies of the state. Photo / Supplied

But it was understandable some families back home wanted to see updates from those in Ukraine.

“It’s very often they come under pressure from the families, because the families want to know where ... it’s understandable ... but you can’t be doing that all over social media.”

Five New Zealanders have died in the European nation since Russia invaded in February 2022: four soldiers - Dominic Abelen, Kane Te Tai , Jeremy Braggins and Shan-Le Kearns – and one aid worker, Andrew Bagshaw.

Apart from Kiwis who have headed to Ukraine to fight the Russian invasion, scores of other New Zealanders have volunteered to help with a wide range of humanitarian aid missions.

Most buildings in the city of Irpin were damaged or destroyed by Russian forces. Photo / Olena Kalashnikova

Aid workers targeted
Mark has met with numerous Kiwis involved in providing military expertise or humanitarian aid during trips to the war-torn nation.

He has also met with a wide array of senior Ukrainian government and military officials.

Kiwis undertaking aid missions he has met with include pastor Owen Pomana who is risking his life by helping deliver aid to areas devastated by the war.

Russia’s use of the internet during the fighting is something that has touched Pomana, whose involvement includes the mass evacuation of residents of Mariupol into Romania in March 2022.

That includes the sharing of graphic footage online of the moment a vehicle carrying some of his aid volunteers was blown up by a Russian strike.

Artwork added to a destroyed Russian tank on a highway southwest of Irpin. Photo / Olena Kalashnikova

“Owen’s lost a number of killed and wounded in his operation,” Mark said.

“And there’s video footage that Russians put online of them taking out one of his vans and it’s ghastly.”

During his fourth trip to Ukraine, Mark participated at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) annual meeting in Kyiv in mid-September.

The 2025 theme of the annual conference – held in Ukraine since 2004 – was “How to End the War” and attendance included European leaders, former politicians, academics and global business leaders.

Speakers included Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, former British PM Boris Johnson and an array of Ukrainian military leaders, including those heading units on the front lines.

Mark said military officials he met “spoke highly” of both the efforts of New Zealanders who had volunteered to fight for Ukraine, and of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) staff involved in training Ukrainian recruits.

Operation Tīeke involves up to 100 NZDF staff training Ukraine soldiers in the UK and other European bases – but not in the war-torn nation – in areas such as frontline combat, weapon handling, offensive and defensive operations, combat first aid and fieldcraft.

Mark said of the Kiwis who had joined the Ukrainian International Legion or involved in aid work: “There’s a lot of good New Zealanders over there driven simply by their conscience.

“The thing that I find common amongst New Zealanders over there ... they’re all driven by those same values that New Zealanders always respected and lived by.

“They saw a country that was being attacked by another sovereign nation with a view to eliminating them and absorbing them into Russia.”

Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 33 years of newsroom experience.