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Maksim Chmerkovskiy got arrested in Ukraine, and he is now telling fans the experience was a “reality check” for him.
The “Dancing with the Stars” pro is in Kyiv, and regularly posts about what he’s seeing and hearing from the heart of the city as Russia attacks.
Maks appeared to be standing outside on a city street in his latest video, telling fans there is “just a lot of fighting everywhere, streets are crazy.”
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Stars React to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
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He went on, “At one point I got arrested, a foot outside of here, but again all good, promise.” Maks insisted, “That was probably the least traumatizing moment of this whole thing as far as Ukraine is concerned, but for me it was just a reality check, no matter what it is or how it is, it was a crazy reality check. There is a lot to unpack. I’m not in a mental state right now to do so, I’m just trying to stay focused.”
Chmerkovskiy said he is now making plans to try to leave Ukraine. “I am going to try to make my way out,” he shared. “I am going to try to start getting toward the border. I have options, my options are better than most people’s, unfortunately.”
He admitted, “I’m just a little nervous to be honest with you. But I think it is going to be alright, I know it is going to be okay, so I’m going to try to keep you posted through this process if I can.”
Maks Chmerkovskiy Gives ‘Dire’ Update on Ukraine, Peta Asks for Prayers
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Maks went on, “I just want a favor from everybody… just don’t panic if I kind of disappear for a minute… I’m not answering a lot of text and a lot of calls, mostly I just talk to Peta [Murgatroyd], my parents and my brother… if I disappear for a little bit just don’t worry.”
He also gave an update on a friend he had mentioned during a previous post. The woman was making her way from Kyiv to the Polish border. Maks said it took her 17 hours to get from Kyiv to the Ukrainian town of Lviv and now she’s still waiting to get to the border.
The dancer explained, “From Lviv to Poland is nothing, it is very little distance. She still has not made it to the Polish border she has been on a bus for the last two days, slowly crawling to get close to it… she said the entire route from Lviv to Polish border in every direction there are volunteers constantly feeding and giving food and hot drinks and all of that. During the night it is cold… they turned off the engine to save gas and there is no heat.”
Maks was sharing updates over the weekend, too, and even took time to send a message to his former “DWTS” partner Kirstie Alley.
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Maks Chmerkovskiy Criticizes Kirstie Alley Over Ukraine ‘Real vs. Fake’ Post
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While others have taken a hard line against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Alley raised eyebrows with her “fake news”-powered tweet on the topic. On Friday, the “Fat Actress” and “Cheers” star wrote, “I don’t know what’s real or what is fake in this war. So I won’t be commenting. I’ll pray instead.”
The sidelines approach did not sit well with many commenters, most prominently Maksim.
He responded to her, writing, “Dear Kirstie, We haven’t spoken in a while, but I clearly remember being right next to you while you were organizing trucks of aid during hurricane Sandy and I remember all that you were saying to me about situations where innocent are suffering.”
He went on to forcefully tell her, “That same energy is needed right now.”
Revealing that her words must have stung him, he ended with, “No one needs your prayer if you don’t know what’s real or fake.”
Chmerkovskiy, 42, and Alley, 71, were partnered on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2012.