'Dancing With the Stars' pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy documents experience in Ukraine as Russia invades: 'This is very, very, very real'
As Russia invades Ukraine, Dancing With the Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy is posting video updates from Kyiv.
Chmerkovskiy, who was born in Odessa, Ukraine, but moved to New York as a teen, is back in the country to film the show World of Dance UA, his rep told CNN. He captured military sirens going off as he stood on his hotel balcony in a series of Instagram posts dated Feb. 24.
"Stuff is scary," he said in one of the video clips. "But I'm safe. I have options, I think, that are great options… The main thing is that I'm safe. But, like I said, a lot of people are not and this is very, very, very real, what's happening."
In another, he fought back tears as he said, "I want to go back home. And I realize that I have the way to — I realize that I have a different passport, and my family is far away. What I'm realizing is that my friends, whose kids are here, whose moms, dads are here and elderly people who are here, they can't just escape."
Chmerkovskiy, who is married to fellow DWTS pro Peta Murgatroyd, with whom he shares a 5-year-old son, said he was packed and ready to go to the bomb shelter at his hotel when necessary.
His intention in sharing the footage, he said, was to "show you what it's really like."
To that end, he posted footage of families walking through a park with their suitcases.
He also lamented the bloodshed to come and pleaded with Russia to stop the aggression.
"I have [had] a f***ing incredible pleasure to spend, on the ground, about six months now," he said, "and I've fell back in love — I never fell out of love, but I know now who these people are. I know who this country is, what it represents, what it stands for. And it's completely not what is being portrayed to the Russian people in order to justify this invasion."
He asked people not to bombard his wife with questions about his whereabouts.
Still, Murgatroyd addressed many of the concerns about her husband in her own post, where she solicited for prayers for him and the civilians of Ukraine.
"I don't usually ask these things from my social media network, however today is extremely hard and the next few will be even harder," she wrote in part. "My pain is overwhelming and I'm struggling, but you sending your positive light and love to him would mean the world to me."
