Northlanders living near a luxury lodge owned by a Russian oligarch are putting up Ukrainian flags on their properties.
In peak season, the Helena Bay Lodge charges $7000 a night per room.
The buildings, worth tens of millions of dollars, are owned by steel magnate Alexander Abramov, who is believed to have taken his superyacht from Europe to the Maldives as troops invaded Ukraine.
Forbes estimates the oligarch is worth US$6 billion.
Abramov is not on the government's new Russian travel ban list, but the list will likely expand as the government gathers intelligence.
There are protesters on yachts on their way to Helena Bay, calling for the government to freeze Abramov's assets under the new Russia Sanctions Bill, to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end war.
They plan to anchor just offshore from the lodge's private beach.
One flag put on a fence just a few kilometres from the lodge is covered with the words: "Stop Putin, Stop War."
A family at another nearby property has sewn a flag from scratch and hung it from trees at the end of their driveway.
The man who hung the flag told RNZ it would be "a good step forward" if the government did not let Abramov back into the country.
"Unless he's cleared of not having anything to do with Putin ... but [that's] very unlikely, I think, with that kind of calibre."
The family has friends who have farmed in western Ukraine near Lviv for the past 16 years, employing 60 Ukrainians.
"They had to leave. They are currently rescuing their workers, who they're picking up in Poland. They're meeting somewhere and bringing them back to Germany. I guess farming's not happening anymore because all the males have to fight."
Others think the steel magnate should be left alone, unless its proven he is directly helping Putin wage war.
One neighbour, who previously worked at the lodge, told RNZ it had created has created many jobs for rural families with few employment options.
"My relations out here, they talk about working with him. He's a hard man to work for but he's honest."
Another resident had similar feelings, and said though the invasion of Ukraine was "incredibly stupid" he doesnt agree with sanctions the Russian economy either.
Te Uri o Hikihiki kaumātua rangatira Hepi Haika (Ngāti Wai) chairs the nearby Mōkau marae, and was at the lodge's opening.
He is related to whānau who lease out the land the lodge sits on, and he believes the wider hapū would be understanding, if government sanctions hurt the oligarch, and his lodge asset.
"If [there's] anything, any way, we can actually support Ukraine, we as a hapū would probably stand beside that."
The protesters headed for Helena Bay will leave Auckland tomorrow.
Residents told RNZ the lodge had ramped up security in response.
The lodge declined to comment.
RNZ
