Statement from the family of Corporal Dominic Abelen

“What we have learned in the time since Dominic’s death is that he was leading a company of eight soldiers when he died. He was holding off the Russians while everyone else got out.

He did what the New Zealand Army trained him to do; lay out covering fire while his team got to safety.

We assumed the worst; that he was in a mass grave. So to find out that he had been handed over and would be coming home was such a relief.

This is the final part of this episode and we are so grateful to finally have him home.

What we do know is that his body had been in Kiev in Ukraine for a while, which we didn’t know about until we were contacted to do a DNA match. Because of the amount of people who need to be identified, this has taken a long time.   

I was put in contact with the Weatherman Foundation who help to repatriate people and help those like me who might be in the same situation. It was a long process to have him identified and it took nearly six months to be in a position to be able to do a DNA test.

I had a call from Ukraine telling me there was an initial positive match. We had to do another witnessed DNA test for one hundred percent identification that this was Dominic.

The Ukrainian authorities have been very supportive and easy to deal with and there has been a lot of amazing behind the scenes support.

In an interview before his death, Dominic said he was in Ukraine for the fight between evil and good, and that he couldn’t just stand back at watch it. He was a determined man, he’s always been like that.

When he was three years old he unloaded a full trailer of firewood with this tiny little wheelbarrow. It could only hold two pieces of wood in each load but he would climb up, throw two pieces off, then load another two up, and come back for more until the entire lot was done. That was him - he was there to get the job done.

Dominic’s death has left a huge hole in our family, but it has also brought us closer together after everything that has happened in the last few years.

He cared about his family. He was always visiting and keeping in contact with us and made sure we all shared holidays and Christmases together. We miss him dearly.

We want to thank the Weatherman Foundation for helping to bring Dominic home. Without their help this may not have happened, as well as those who donated to the Give a Little page that was set up. Without the generosity of everyday New Zealanders the costs would have just been too phenomenal.

Thank you to the New Zealand Defence Force and the Army, especially his former unit in Burnham. They held a memorial for him when it happened and we could see how much he was cared for there.

We would also like to thank the media for not pressuring us, not being forceful at the time of his death and being respectful of our family. We are really thankful for that.

Once again, we ask for privacy at this time as we grieve and farewell Dominic.”