'Dancing With the Stars' Pro Maks Chmerkovskiy Boards Flight to Los Angeles After Ukraine Escape
Dancing With the Stars pro dancer Maks Chmerkovskiy is on his way from Poland to Los Angeles after he escaped Ukraine. Chmerkovskiy was in Kyiv at the start of the Russian invasion of his home country on Feb. 24 and he had been trying to safely leave while using his celebrity to raise awareness of the situation. In another video, Chmerkovskiy said he felt "guilt" after he escaped Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Chmerkovskiy shared a video from the airport in Warsaw. In the five-minute clip, Chmerkovskiy reminded his fans that it is not just buildings that are being destroyed, but civilians are also dying. He also spoke about being horrified to know that some Russians denied what was happening, but he noted that not all Russians support President Vladimir Putin's actions. At the end of his post, Chmerkovskiy asked his fans to continue showing support for Ukraine before he boarded his plane.
"Keep talking. Keep using your voice and so will I," Chmerkovskiy said. "Getting on a plane. Talk to you from L.A."
Late Tuesday, an exhausted Chmerkovskiy posted a 26-minute long Instagram video, filmed after a 23-hour train ride from Kyiv to Poland and 36 hours without sleep, notes PEOPLE. "I'm scared, I'm confused, I'm terrified and I just lived through some s- that I'm going to need a lot of therapy for. But I know this – it's us little guys against the big guy," he said in the video. "I don't care how big [Putin] is. I don't care how mean he is. When we're together, I can see what can happen. We can have a little guy finally win and it will be a joint effort and after that, we can figure out how to make sure that there's never again one f- person, one man, who can do whatever he's doing."
Chmerkovskiy compared his journey out of Ukraine to a movie, noting the train car was packed. He also admitted to feeling some "guilt" about leaving a war zone. He said he had a "very f-ing hard time leaving" Ukraine and had mixed emotions. "I have my friends there, my friends in [the] frontline. ... I can't hear from some of the people. I can't get in touch with them. I don't know if they're dead," he said.
Later, Chmerkovskiy said he loved that people around the world are angry about the situation and were paying attention. "You get angry because something is wrong and you maybe even want to do something about it," he said. "And when everybody does something about it, then it becomes everybody against one person and that's what needs to happen right now."
While Chmerkovskiy is traveling back to the U.S., his wife Peta Murgatroyd has publicly prayed for his safe return. The couple, who both appeared on DWTS, are parents to son Shai Alexander, 5. "I cannot wait to be with you again," Murgatroyd wrote on Instagram Wednesday.