dark stormdlouds with a plane surrounded by coins going between colorful outlines of ukraine and NZ

New Zealand has sent over $100m. The US has sent over $100bn. (Image: The Spinoff)

PoliticsMarch 4, 2025

New Zealand’s contribution to Ukraine – by the numbers

Contributing writer

New Zealand has sent over $100m. The US has sent over $100bn. (Image: The Spinoff)

Over three years of conflict, New Zealand has repeatedly expressed its support for Ukraine. What has that support actually looked like?

New Zealand has reaffirmed its support for Ukraine following an explosive meeting between US president Donald Trump, US vice president JD Vance and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday. “New Zealand remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine as it defends itself in a war that Russia started. It’s mounting the defence of a proud, democratic and sovereign nation, but also the defence of international law,” said Christopher Luxon, in a post on X, that was retweeted by Zelenskyy.

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, after years of military build-up following the 2014 conflict sparked by the annexation of Crimea. Since then, thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the war, and an estimated 12,605 civilian deaths and 29,178 civilian injuries have been recorded.

Much of western Europe and the English-speaking world have supported Ukraine, condemning Russia’s actions, including New Zealand. These words have been backed by action; there are a wide variety of sanctions in place against Russian (and Belarussian) individuals and companies, and billions of dollars of aid has been given to Ukraine for humanitarian and military spending – $119bn by the US alone, where the spending has become a major political issue.

What role has New Zealand played in supporting Ukraine since the full-scale Russian invasion? Here are some numbers.

a grey sky, with a dark military plane outlined above the tarmac — The C-130H Hercules transport departs the air force base in Auckland, for its European deployment supporting the war effort in Ukraine (Photo: Phil Walter/Getty Images)

1,318

people on the sanctions list

There are 1,318 people currently on the up-to-date sanctions list, including Putin and other Russian politicians, major Russian military commanders, CEOs of major Russian companies, propagandists and their families. Sanctions for individuals are essentially travel bans: none of these people are allowed to enter Aotearoa, and the sanctions list includes their names and dates of birth. Additional sanctions have also been applied to some individuals from Belarus, which has supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine by allowing Russia to conduct part of the invasion from its territory, and on Iranians supplying drones to Russia and people supplying North Korean military material to Russia. These sanctions are accompanied by sanctions and limits on hundreds of Russian, Belarussian and Iranians entities and institutions.

2,269

visas granted

On March 15, 2022, the Special Ukraine Visa was created for New Zealand citizens or residents born in Ukraine, or Ukrainians living in New Zealand, to sponsor family members to come to New Zealand. The time to express interest in the visa ended on March 15, 2024 after a year-long extension. A resident pathway for these visa holders opened on March 16, 2024, and will remain in place until 2026. As of March 3 2025, 1,948 work visas for Ukrainian adults, 317 study visas for Ukrainian kids and 400 resident visas for Ukrainians who had reached New Zealand under these categories had been approved. However, many of those visa-holders have not been able to arrive in New Zealand; Immigration New Zealand (INZ) records 89 Ukranian student visa holders and 618 work visa holders as having arrived in New Zealand (which may count multiple arrivals, ie an individual arriving, leaving the country and returning again). Others have arrived in New Zealand, but left or moved to other visa categories, acording to Jock Gilray, INZ’s visa director.

Chris Hipkins holding a phone, with his hand on his other ear. Notes and a laptop are in front of him — Chris Hipkins on the phone to Volodymyr Zelenskyy on May 1, 2023 (Photo: Supplied)

3

prime ministers New Zealand has had since the war started

“By choosing to pursue this entirely avoidable path, an unthinkable number of innocent lives could be lost because of Russia’s decision. New Zealand calls on Russia to do what is right and immediately cease military operations in Ukraine and permanently withdraw to avoid a catastrophic and pointless loss of innocent life,” said then prime minister Jacinda Ardern, directly after the invasion.

“Over the past year New Zealand has contributed more than $78 million of financial and military support to Ukraine, as well as our support for Ukraine’s legal case against Russia, sanctions targeting more than 1500 Russian and Belarussian individuals and entities, and trade measures,” said Chris Hipkins, announcing further support for Ukraine in May 2023. “We and likeminded partners will not back off and allow Russia to impose their might on the innocent people of Ukraine.”

While Luxon reaffirmed his support for Ukraine on Saturday, he was also supportive of Ukraine while in opposition. “This war has proved that when you have to fight for what you believe in, you need an army, weapons, ammunition, and friends to help defend your interests. This war has again highlighted the shortcomings of the United Nations, whose purpose is noble, but whose impact is weak. This international group could not prevent one authoritarian power launching a war on its neighbour,” he said, as leader of the opposition when Zelenskyy addressed New Zealand’s parliament in December 2022.

$34.69m

in non-lethal military funding and equipment

In early April 2022, just after the war had started, New Zealand sent a C130 Hercules plane and 50 military personnel to the UK to help train members of the Ukrainian military and transport supplies around Europe (but not into Ukraine), as well as eight logistics specialists, who were based in Germany, for two months. New Zealand also contributed $13.1 million, directed through the UK, for ammunitions procurement, commercial satellite access for Ukrainian intelligence and money for the International Court of Justice, International Criminal Court and Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights.

Since that first major announcement, New Zealand has given additional money to the Nato Trust Fund for Ukraine, which offers medical rehabilitation, cyber defence, logistics and fuel and military rations to the Ukrainian army, and paid for more weapons procurement for Ukraine.

Along with $31.9m for humanitarian assistance and funding for legal processes and economic support, Winston Peters’ office says that since February 24, 2022, New Zealand has pledged over $133m of financial assistance and in-kind support to Ukraine.

a courtyard filled with small blue and yellow flags in the sunshine — In Kyiv’s Independence Square, thousands of flags mark fallen soldiers. (Photo: Tasha Black)

35%

tariff on Russian imports

A tariff of 35% is placed on all Russian imports into New Zealand (meaning the importing business has to pay the government 35% of the cost of the import). Russian oil, gas and coal is also banned from being imported, and the import and export of certain luxury goods and gold to or from Russia has been banned too.

53

jobs (at least)

Red Cross New Zealand has been supporting Ukrainians who have come to New Zealand. As of May last year, a programme run by the NGO has helped 26 Ukrainians find work. Ukrainians who have come to New Zealand since the war started and not registered with the Red Cross won’t be captured by these statistics. The organisation says that as of October 21, 2024, New Zealanders have raised over $5m for humanitarian work in Ukraine.

182

Beehive press releases

The Beehive website has an archive of all press releases sent by New Zealand ministers and prime ministers (but not non-portfolio-holding MPs or party communications). The majority of press releases mentioning Ukraine are from 2022; there were 112 that year, 32 in 2023, 35 in 2024 and just three in 2025 so far. Many of those announcements refer to the war in Ukraine (ie mentioning its effect on fuel prices) without substantively announcing changes to New Zealand government policy.

A man in a dark shirt with the parliament tickertape beneath the screenshot — Volodymyr Zelensky addressing NZ Parliament (Parliament TV)

1 (first)

‘State Occasion’ for Volodymyr Zelenskyy address

In December 2022, Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed New Zealand’s parliament by video link. He was the first foreign head of government to address New Zealand’s parliament as a “State Occasion”, special rules for convening parliament under unusual and significant circumstances. Zelenskyy’s address was the first time these rules were used. “Various dictators and oppressors always fail to realise that the strength of the free world is not about someone becoming large or big, and becoming full of missiles; it’s in the fact that everyone knows how to unite and act decisively and make its unique contribution to the common cause,” he said, pitching for New Zealand to join a peace summit. The summit eventually took place in June 2024, where New Zealand signed a joint communique pledging to take further steps towards peace.

3

named New Zealanders killed in Ukraine

While New Zealanders are advised not to travel to Ukraine, and the New Zealand Defence Force has no personnel involved in active conflict in the region, some New Zealanders have joined the Ukrainian army. Two named soldiers have been killed: Dominic Abelen, an NZDF soldier on leave who was killed in Ukraine in 2022, with his body not repatriated by Russia. Kane Te Tai, a former NZDF soldier, was killed in March 2023. Christchurch man Andrew Bagshaw, volunteering as an aid worker, was also killed in January 2023. For more context, Tasha Black wrote an in-depth feature in September 2024, interviewing New Zealanders who are choosing to travel to Ukraine. “People say it’s not our war, what are we doing over there? I didn’t come here for you, I came here because it’s the right thing to do,” soldier Jordan O’Brien told her.

This piece was updated at 5:00 pm on March 4 with updated statistics on Ukrainians who have found jobs in New Zealand from the Red Cross.

Keep going!

A digitally altered image shows a car speeding past a school zone sign that reads "Kura School," with a crossed-out 50, indicating reduced speed. The background has trees and a blurred group of people, emphasizing motion.

Image: The Spinoff

OPINIONPoliticsMarch 3, 2025

Huge win: I can finally go back to hooning past schools at dangerous speeds

Hayden Donnell

Contributing writer

Image: The Spinoff

For a while the forces of woke stopped me from running over schoolchildren in my vehicle. But thanks to the government, I’m back in business.

Not everyone rejoiced when prime minister Chris Luxon and transport minister Chris Bishop stood on a section of State Highway 2 near Featherston to announce they’re going to get rid of speed limit reductions across the country. Some questioned whether it might be in bad taste to celebrate speed increases near where several people have died in high-speed crashes. Others pointed out the supposed productivity gains used to justify the new speed laws were minor to illusory, given most drivers will save seconds at best, while others will crash their cars and be burdened with long-term conditions notorious for dampening productivity, such as being dead.

For me though, the announcement was cause for jubilation. After several years of being held down by the woke anti-child death lobby, I’m finally able to go back to my favourite pastime of hooning at dangerous speeds on roads near primary, intermediate, or occasionally high schools.

On Friday, Auckland Transport revealed the map of the streets where it’s being forced to raise the speed limit from 30km/h to 50km/h, and it’s a veritable smorgasbord of possibilities. Take Caram Place near my home in Birkenhead. For too long it’s been a sleepy cul-de-sac a short walk from a primary school. But thanks to the government’s wisdom, soon I’ll be able to career down its curving 100m length at speeds high enough to kill a pedestrian in 80% of collisions.

But as per usual, the North Shore is only getting a small slice of Auckland’s fun. If you really want to waft the smell of burning rubber up a school child’s nostrils, it’s best to head to the historic central suburbs, where dozens of narrow roads are having their speed limits increased to what I hope will be desperately unsafe levels. Thanks to this great victory over the forces of physics and evidence, you can catch me doing burnouts on Putiki Street by Newton Central School.

Aerial view of an urban area showing multiple buildings and streets. Pollen St. and Morton Bay Ave. are visible, along with locations like "Fine Jungle," "Two Rooms Gallery," and surrounding trees. Various cars are parked along the streets.

Some people might think these are outliers, and the speed limit increases will predominantly apply to four-lane urban highways. Those people would be wrong. Nearly every speed limit reduction Auckland Transport put in place over the last few years was near a school. With those changes gone, I’ll be able to put the pedal to the metal on Douglas Road by Maungawhau Primary.

Aerial view of a suburban neighborhood with tree-lined streets. Houses with yards are arranged along Douglas Rd and Wairiki Rd. The roads intersect with Ruawai Rd. Pinned locations and labels are visible on the map.

Once I’m done there, it’s just a 20-minute jaunt down to McVilly Road outside the Blind and Low Vision Education Network in Manurewa. Blind people have simply had it too good for too long.

Aerial view of a campus with a circular garden and green space in the center, surrounded by roads and buildings. To the left are sports fields and a track. A railway line runs across the top, and nearby buildings are labeled with various names.

Of course, there will be some limitations. The immediate area around schools will still be 30km/h at pickup and drop-off times, which will ensure children are safe provided they don’t do any before or after-school activities, or indeed exist in areas more than 200m from their campus. Taking those simple precautions will help them avoid becoming unwitting participants in my soon-to-be daily 3.15pm drag race down Hepburn Street and into Sheridan Lane in Freemans Bay.

Aerial view of a rectangular sports field surrounded by houses and trees. Roads and buildings are visible around the field, with trees lining its perimeter. The label "Greenland Bay School Football Field" is marked on the field.

As always, there will be naysayers. I’m anticipating a few quibbles from parents who want their children to be able to walk or bike to school without being mowed down by a distracted driver in a Ford Ranger. I get it. As a dad, even I sometimes want my children to survive. But what’s more important: kids getting a small section of public space where they’re able to feel safe and learn independence, or drivers getting to the next set of traffic lights 0.6 seconds faster? I think if they truly search the recesses of their heart, even the most protective parent knows the answer.

There may also be those who say that at $8.8m, the cost of raising speed limits on a host of narrow roads outside primary schools does seem a little steep. But those stick-in-the-muds will soon change their tune once they experience the unparalleled adrenaline rush of barely swerving around a group of terrified eight-year-olds as they’re trying to cross a suburban culvert.

If even that’s not enough to win over the sceptics, I’d simply copy former transport minister Simeon Brown and say the words “Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions” 764 times per day. If history is anything to go by, the media will uncritically adopt that framing despite even a cursory glance at the map of the roads involved proving it’s demonstrably false. After a while, people will start saying things like “blanket speed limit reductions? That’s not right, they should be targeted to places like schools”. Then I’ll harness that misplaced anger to get rid of targeted speed limit reductions around places like schools, which will happily take us back to where we are today.

Headline stating "Blanket speed limit reductions to be dropped." Below is a small circular image of a person, with the name "Catherine Hubbard" and the date "June 15, 2024 - 05:15am" next to it.

Screenshot of a webpage headline reading, "Government begins reversal of blanket speed limit reductions," with authorship attributed to NZ Autocar and images to NZ Government, RNZ. It shows a posting date of January 30, 2025.

Headline on a dark background reads, "Govt to pull handbrake on 'blanket' speed limit reductions," with "By News Reporters" and the date "June 13, 2024" underneath.

Screenshot of a YouTube video header from RNZ, titled "PM Luxon and Chris Bishop announce start of blanket speed limit reversals" dated 29 January 2023. There's a red subscribe button with "207K subscribers", and options to like, share, and download the video.

Screenshot of a news article headline from NZ Herald stating, "Transport Minister Simeon Brown announces blanket speed limits dropped." It includes a byline by reporter Ben Leahy, with a timestamp and reading time.