Maksim Chmerkovskiy Shares Post Of Himself In Ukraine After Russian Attack: ‘War Is Not The Answer’

The ‘Dancing With The Stars’ pro took a heartfelt video of himself from his home country’s capitol and pleaded for peace.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy, 42, showed how heartbroken he was by the Russian attacks in Ukraine on Thursday February 24. The Dancing With The Stars pro posted two videos mourning the attacks in his home country as he filmed in the capitol city of Kyiv. In one of the videos, he started tearing up, and said that he wanted to go home, as he got choked up for his friends and family who couldn’t leave as easily as he could.

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In the description for his first video, Maksim pleaded with those in power in Russia to act peacefully and resolve their issues with Ukraine. “There’s ALWAYS another way! WAR is NEVER an answer!” he wrote, while saying that the attacks brought back memories from why his family had left the country during the 90s. The DWTS star also said that he was going to do his best to keep his fans and followers informed about everything happening in Kyiv. In the first video, sirens could be heard going off in the background, as he explained how Ukrainians had hoped that this outcome would be different. “Everyone was hoping that the finality of this situation would be averted, that it’s not going to be this kind of aggression, this kind of aggressive measures,” he said.

In the second video, Maksim spoke for longer, and explained how he wanted to be with his family, and escaping Kyiv would be more difficult for some of his loved ones still there. “I’m getting really emotional. It’s been a little difficult,” he said. “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’s far away, and what I’m realizing is that my friends whose kids are here, and whose moms, dads are here, and elderly people are here. They can’t just escape.”

The choreographer then turned his attention to any Russian followers he had and told them to speak out against the government on the attacks. “I know there’s a lot of people currently in Russia, that are watching this, that are watching the news, and hearing the propaganda and hearing this complete nonsense that’s been talked about,” he said. “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 who’s about to go to a bomb shelter, because s**t’s going down.”

While telling Russians to speak out against the attacks, Maksim also seemed to get a dig directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin in. “I think the Russians need to get up and actually say something, because no one’s opinion is being heard. This is all one man’s ambition of something, and however it sounds, however convenient it sounds in Moscow, however comfortable you are, wherever 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,” he pleaded.

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Towards the end of his second video, Maksim showed how frightened he was of the attacks in Ukraine, not just for himself but the other people in his country. “I’m uneasy. I’m very scared,” he said. “I have a passport, and I have a way out. A lot of people here do not, and it’s f**king nonsense.” Before his clip ended and he showed love to his followers for their support, he called out the Russian government once again for using propaganda to garner support for the attacks. “It’s completely not what is being portrayed to the Russian people in order to justify this invasion,” he said.