Maks Chmerkovskiy Posts Emotional Clips From Kyiv As Russia Invades Ukraine
By Yashira C.
February 24, 2022
Ukrainian-born dancer Maks Chmerkovskiy has been sharing his experience from near the center of Kyiv, Ukraine.
He posted a series of videos to his Instagram Thursday (February 24) afternoon local time, in which he is standing on a balcony in the country's capital as military sirens can be heard from the streets below.
"I'm in Kyiv, contrary to what I probably should've done a while ago … and not that no one saw this coming, but everybody was hoping that the finality of this situation would be averted, that there wasn't going to be these kind of aggressive measures," Chmerkovskiy says of the Russian invasion that recently unfolded.
The Dancing with the Stars alum tears up in a second video, as he pans the camera to show the "reality" of the situation and the nearby city center. He says that "it's been a little difficult" to witness the fallout and adds, "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 way to — I realize that I have a different passport, and my family is far away," continues Chmerkovskiy, who is married to fellow DWTS pro Peta Murgatroyd and shares one child with her.
The invasion began shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" in the Donbas area of Ukraine, a separatist region in the country which he said this week should be independent — a move rejected by the U.S. and Ukraine.
Putin said in a televised address that the operation is to "demilitarize" Ukraine and that Ukrainian servicemen who put down their arms will be able to safely leave the combat zone, per the Associated Press. He also issued a warning to anyone who tried to intervene, saying they "must know that Russia's answer will be immediate, and will lead to such consequences as you never experienced in your history," according to The New York Times.
Chmerkovskiy ends his video by saying how much he loves his home country, explaining that "it's completely not what is being portrayed to the Russian people in order to justify this invasion."