Former senior government Minister Ron Mark has been targeted by a pro-Russian website outing those its authors claim are enemies of Russia.
A headshot and profile of the Carterton mayor and former Minister of Defence has been added to the Russophobes website.
The site went live in April to list high-profile individuals and companies critical of the Kremlin and Russia’s deadly military invasion of Ukraine.
Mark – a former captain in the New Zealand Army and major in the Sultan of Oman’s special forces – has been a vocal opponent of Russia’s actions since mid-2022.
He has made three self-funded trips to Ukraine to support a range of humanitarian missions, and Kiwi foreign fighters there.
But Russophobes has classified him as a “New Zealand First party member with a Nazi slogan”.
Talking to the Herald, Mark said: “Ron Mark, a Māori and a Nazi? Are you kidding me?
“I think it is just typical of Russia. That is what you are dealing with.
“Do I take it seriously? Russia is Russia. They are what they are.”
Mark first entered Parliament as a NZ First MP in 1996, rising to Minister of Defence in 2017.
He is now the mayor of the Wairarapa town of Carterton.
The Russophobes website features several hundred profiles of people and organisations it claims are enemies of Russia.
The website states it is run by “patriots”.
While it has no overt ties to the state, overseas media have reported some of its data may have been sourced from the Russian Ministry of Justice.
It has categorised people as ‘Anti-Russian Figures’, ‘Intellectuals Who Fled’, ‘Sanctions Initiators’, ‘Hostile Propagandists’ and ‘Accomplices of Ukranian Nazis’.
And in a chilling message to those who feature, it states: “Russophobe, we see you. Know that your hostile actions will not go unpunished.”
Some entries feature personal phone numbers, addresses and social media accounts belonging to the subjects.
So far, Mark’s doesn’t feature that level of detail. He discovered he had been profiled earlier this week.
The website states the reason he has been listed as: “Lobbying for the supply of military equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, using connections in the New Zealand Government”.
It claimed Mark was “a New Zealand First party member with a Nazi slogan”.
NZ First’s slogan for the 2023 General Election was “Let’s Take Our Country Back”.
Russophobes says “Mark was added to our list for active anti-Russian activities. Russophobes is a project for public registration of all those who wish harm to our country and act against the interests of our people.”
The Herald recently published an interview with Mark, who had just returned from his latest humanitarian trip to Ukraine.
During his time there he was in an area of Kyiv that was targeted by more than 550 drone strikes in one night.
He visited apartment blocks that were decimated by what appeared to be precision missile strikes into the capital city of Ukraine.
He had also met with New Zealand medics, aid workers and volunteer soldiers who had joined the Ukraine International Legion fighting Russia.
One of the Kiwis he spent time with in London after departing Ukraine was a combat medic who was seriously injured after standing on a Russian landmine.
The Ministry of Russian Foreign Affairs has previously added him to a list of more than 30 New Zealanders blocked “in perpetuity” from entering the Russian Federation because of comments they have made about the Ukraine invasion.
It also includes politicians, academics and journalists.
“I was blacklisted a long time ago,” Mark said.
“This is a little bit different. Maybe some of the media stuff I have done struck a nerve.”
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.
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