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Ukranian-born star Maks Chmerkovskiy, a choreographer known for showcasing his talents on “Dancing with the Stars,” revealed on Thursday that he’s currently in his native country of Ukraine and terrified as he plans to head to a bomb shelter.
Chmerkovskiy shared a glimpse of the scene unfolding in the heart of Kyiv, where parents could be seen walking with their children with bags and suitcases, desperate to get out.
Russia launched an attack on Ukraine, including Kyiv, overnight Wednesday that Russia called a “special military operation,” killing dozens.
Chmerkovskiy, 42, said he’s not one to post to social media, but felt compelled to speak out against the “propaganda” in Russia.
“I’m in Kyiv, contrary to what I probably should have done a while ago, but again everybody has sources and resources and I have mine and I trust my sources and no one saw this coming. Not that no one saw this coming, but everyone was hoping that the finality of this situation would be averted, that there’s not going to be this kind of aggression,” he began in the video.
His video showed ambulances and big trucks making their way down the streets.
“That’s military,” he continued, adding that he’s been “getting really emotional.”
“You know me, I stay strong, and I don’t show it, but I want to go back home, and I realize that I have the weight to. I realize that. I have a different passport and my family is far away. What I’m realizing is that my friends, their kids, are here. Moms, dads are here, and elderly people are here, and they can’t just escape,” Chmerkovskiy said.
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(L-R) Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd attend the 2021 World Choreography Awards at Globe Theatre Los Angeles on December 13, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.
(Rodin Eckenroth)
He then shared a message to the Russian people.
“Dear Russians, I know you know me and I know there’s a lot of people currently in Russia that are watching this, watching the news, hearing the propaganda, hearing this complete nonsense that’s been talked about. I am not at this point someone who is pleading for someone else’s safety from a far distance, from a safe distance. I’m somebody that’s about to go into a bomb shelter because s–t’s going down.
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“I think that in 2022 civilized world, this is not the way we do things. I think that as a powerful forward-thinking nation and not a third-world kind of country, I think the Russians need to get up and actually say something because no one’s opinion has been heard. This is all one man’s ambition of just something, and however it sounds, however convenient it sounds in Moscow, however comfortable you are in Russia, I just don’t think that this is the right thing and this is the right steps and these are the correct actions.”
Maksim Chmerkovskiy hails from Ukraine.
(Michael Tran/FilmMagic)
Chmerkovskiy asked that the public respect his wife, Peta Murgatroyd. She has not posted anything about the Ukraine crisis on social media.
The “Dancing with the Stars” pro wrote in his caption that he will “never be the same.” He said it’s bringing back “old feeings” from the 1990s when his family left the country.
“This does feel like the way it was when and why we left in the 90s. Like my old PTSD I’ve finally fixed is coming back. I literally only just forgot about those ‘always on the edge’ feelings and actually started worrying about things like bbq grills. I’m crying as I’m typing this because all man deserves to worry about ‘bbq grills’ and not f—ing war.
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Ukrainian servicemen get ready to repel an attack in Ukraine’s Lugansk region on February 24, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, killing dozens and forcing hundreds to flee for their lives.
(Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
He asked his followers to hug their loved ones. Chmerkovskiy is married to Murgatroyed, also a “DWTS” alum. They share a son, Shai Aleksander, 5.
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened “consequences you have never seen” to any country that interferes in Ukraine while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised “we will defend ourselves.”
