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New Zealand Sending Hercules Plane, Personnel to Europe


FILE - A RNZAF C-130 Hercules takes off from Nausori Airport, having just delivered aid and cargo in support of the relief effort following Tropical Cyclone Winston in Fiji on Feb. 27, 2016.
FILE - A RNZAF C-130 Hercules takes off from Nausori Airport, having just delivered aid and cargo in support of the relief effort following Tropical Cyclone Winston in Fiji on Feb. 27, 2016.

WELLINGTON — New Zealand said on Monday it will deploy a C-130 Hercules and 58 personnel to Europe to further support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.

The team would travel throughout Europe transporting equipment and supplies to distribution centers, but would not enter Ukraine, Defense Minister Peeni Henare said in a statement.

The government also said it would donate an extra $9 million (NZ$13.1 million) towards military, legal and human rights support.

FILE - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gestures during the post-Cabinet press conference in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, March 7, 2022.
FILE - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gestures during the post-Cabinet press conference in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, March 7, 2022.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand’s support was to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion because peace in the region of Europe was essential for global stability.

“Such a blatant attack on a country’s sovereignty is a threat to all of us and that’s why we too have a role to play,” Ardern said.

Russia calls its action in Ukraine a “special operation.”

($1 = 1.4641 New Zealand dollars)

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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