Dancing With the Stars Maksim Chmerkovskiy is using social media to inform his followers about the devastating Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian dancer took to Instagram to document what’s been happening in Kyiv where he’s currently located. Yesterday he posted a PSA to Russians, pleading for peace, just moments before he sought refuge in a bomb shelter.
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Chmerkovskiy followed up with a couple more videos today—one of which is captioned “please speak and post about all of this, so talking resumes and shooting stops”—to ensure his followers that he’s safe while explaining how “dire” the situation is in Ukraine as people are being called to go to war.
“I’m out here, again, I’m safe. We haven’t been told to move, and I’m just following instructions. That’s all I can say,” he shared. “The whole country is being called to go to war. Men, women, boys are going forward and getting guns and getting deployed to defend the country”—adding that “if it’s not resolved in a peaceful manner in some way or form in the next day or so, or two, I think it’s gonna take a turn for very, very much more aggressive actions and a lot more casualties.”
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He went on to explain how the invasion is impacting the people of Ukraine, mainly children and elders, and some of whom he recently judged in dance competitions. “There are kids that are getting sick, people are sheltering and people that aren’t able to just get up and run, right, small children, elderly people,” he continued while emphasizing that he’s not reporting the news, just simply sharing his experience from ground zero.
Chmerkovskiy’s wife Peta Murgatroyd took to Instagram to ask for prayers that her husband makes it home safely.
“Please pray for my husband Maks. 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,” the Dancing with the Stars pro shared on Thursday. “My pain is overwhelming and I’m struggling, but you sending your positive light and love to him would mean the world to me.”
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We’re sending our condolences to the innocent lives that have been lost amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, praying for a peaceful resolution, and for Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s safe return.
@endphp
