When Ron Mark arrived in Ukraine this summer, Kyiv was under attack by 550 drones. But he did not hide. The former New Zealand Defense Minister and current mayor of Carterton was exactly where he promised, among the people, on the front line, keeping the promise he made back in 2022 when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Mark’s presence in Ukraine is unofficial. He is not part of a government delegation. This trip, like the previous ones, is completely personal and self-funded. It even goes against the official stance of the New Zealand government, which still forbids its citizens from traveling to Ukraine. But for Ron Mark, the answer is simple.
“What am I doing here? Just keeping my word, coming to Ukraine and showing support personally, on the ground.”
His story with this war began with a phone call. In March 2022, Pastor Owen Pomana from Humanity Ukraine NZ called him from Ukraine. Together with the British charity network Great Commission Society, they delivered food and medicine, evacuated women, children and the elderly from combat zones. But they desperately lacked transport, searching for 10 buses to evacuate people from besieged Mariupol.
Mark immediately got involved. He contacted Ukrainian diplomats in Wellington and Singapore, spoke with parliamentarians from New Zealand, Ukraine and Romania, reached out to businesspeople, but the buses were never found.
This is no longer just a war. It’s a shared struggle with those I consider friends
“I couldn’t help them,” he says. “It really hit me. So I decided to go to Ukraine myself and see everything with my own eyes.”
From May 8 to 19, 2022, he joined a humanitarian mission traveling through Dunayivtsi, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Dnipro and Kyiv. He helped unload trucks, stayed overnight in churches, talked with refugees, prayed with local pastors. Everywhere he saw the same thing.
“I did not see a single UN worker, a single Red Cross tent,” he said. “Nobody was working inside Ukraine. All international organizations operated only outside the country.”
Returning home, he became a voice for Ukraine in the New Zealand media. In July, he returned to Ukraine again as an official GCS ambassador, meeting with military personnel and officials, signing a memorandum of cooperation between GCS and the Ukrainian government.
Since the war began, dozens of New Zealanders have come to Ukraine despite the government ban. Some had combat experience, others did not. Some stayed, others died.
For many, Mark became an important contact.
“I met some here in Ukraine. Others were referred to me by parents who did not know whom to contact. Some called me themselves. We found some on the front line. Most fall in love with Ukraine. For many, it’s a one-way trip.”
His support is unofficial but vital – calls, messages, video chats, moral support.
“Usually from 1 to 3 a.m., three to four times a week, I take calls from soldiers. We just talk, laugh, sometimes cry,” he said.
“Their country does not support their participation in the war. They have no access to government assistance, neither psychological nor medical. Some have already died. I have to communicate with families, help with funerals, work with media.”
This summer Ron Mark came to Ukraine again, not with GCS, not with an official delegation. He took leave from his mayor position to keep his promise.
He visited the Way to Health rehabilitation center in Dnipro, talked with the Superhumans Ukraine team, met with New Zealand doctors saving soldiers on the front line: Dr. Jenny B, a former combat medic, and Dr. Nicholas Samuels, a surgeon.
A particularly touching meeting was with youth from New Generation Church, who delivered humanitarian aid to the front, evacuated people and suffered losses.
“They lost four or five minibuses. Seven young people were killed or wounded. But they keep working,” he said.
I am here because I cannot be anywhere else.
Ron Mark has served as a paratrooper in Oman, defense minister, parliamentary leader and mayor. He reformed veteran support in New Zealand and received awards from Oman, the UN and New Zealand. He is a descendant of nine Maori tribes, raised in foster families, a former warrior who became a politician.
And now, in his eighth decade, he is again on the front line, unarmed but with experience, reputation and a trusted voice.
“It’s not about glory or politics,” he insisted. “It’s about what you do when you cannot quietly watch injustice.”
In times when diplomacy is silent and international organizations act slowly, people like Ron Mark become moral beacons.
“For me, this is no longer just a war,” he said. “It’s a shared struggle with those I consider friends. I am here because I cannot be anywhere else.”