Ukrainian-American Dancing with the Stars pro Maxim Chmerkovskiy has been heavily criticized for staging a media blitz to talk about his “survivor’s remorse” after escaping. Kyiv on a train full of women and children while others are left to fight.
Chmerkovsky, aged 42, was in Ukraine to work when the war broke out on February 24. He fled Kyiv on a train with women and children, returning to the US last week.
The professional dancer has Ukrainian and American citizenship. He is currently fundraising online to help Ukraine and says he wants to return to the region to help Poland after feeling “survivor’s remorse” for the past few days.
On Sunday evening he appeared on CNN with Anderson Cooper, where he claimed he “had no choice” but to withdraw from “many sources, including members of the military.”
Another interview aired on Monday morning. Good Morning America by ABC. It was filmed on March 4 and re-aired on Monday.
Maxim Chmerkovskiy with his wife Peta Murgatroyd on Thursday in Malibu after returning to America from Ukraine
Chmerkovskiy is shown on the train from Kyiv to Poland. He said that he sat between the cars so as not to take up someone’s “space”, but he could not stay there all the time because it was too cold.
Sunday: DWTS Pro on CNN with Anderson Cooper. He said he felt “bad” to leave, especially when he realized his train was packed full of women and children.
Monday Morning: In a clip aired on GMA on Monday, he shows off a “Welcome Home Dad” sign his son made for him.
It includes footage from his home in Malibu, which he shares with his dancer wife, Peta Murgatroyd.
However, the 6ft 2in dancer was criticized by critics for fleeing the war zone and not staying to fight.
Others, who say they understand the decision and would have done the same, begged him to stop posting about the conflict on social media and “lay low.”
The couple raise money in several ways. On Monday, Peta posted a “Shop for Ukraine” fundraiser on Instagram.
In an interview with CNN, he said he felt “very bad” about taking a seat on the train, so he sat between two carriages for a while.
He stated that the Ukrainians were “ready” for the conflict and had been preparing for it for months. When Putin invaded, Maxim claims he was “told” he “had to leave.”
“They just told me I have to go. I must say about the Ukrainian people as a whole, they were ready for this conflict. That’s the general feeling.
“All the time they told me, if something happens: “we will take you out, you will be the first.”
“When everything happened, it happened suddenly. The day it happened, someone bombed my phone saying, “You have to go.”
Railway station in Kyiv on Monday morning. 1.7 million people left Ukraine
“They started calling me from various sources, the military said:“ You have to go, things are about to go crazy.
He clarified who helped him leave or advised him to leave. Other Americans reported that they did not receive any assistance from the State Department and were forced to find their own ways out of the conflict.
Maxim said that he was “very bad to go” and it got “even worse” when he got to the Kiev station and realized that he was one of, if not the only man on the train.
“I realized that it was all women and children, and I was too big and taking up space. I’m stuck between trains. Internally, I justified my space because I was outside,” he said, referring to his decision to sit between the cars for a while along the way.
He eventually went back inside because it was “too cold”.
“I helped a lot with bags and stuff, just to make sure I wasn’t taking up space.”
Now he says he is going back to the region to help on the Polish border. He did not give any indication that he would enter Ukraine to fight.
“I spent the last couple of days with the remorse of the survivors. I am working on the possibility of returning to Poland. I want to justify my safe this way,” he said.
On Monday morning, another interview aired on ABC. This included footage from the couple’s home in Malibu, where Maxim showed off the “Welcome Home Dad” sign his young son had given him.
“I’m still fight or flight, I’m a big boy. I know for sure that I’m experiencing something mentally.
Maxim’s wife posted these photos on Instagram over the weekend and said that “it’s time for treatment.”
“I know I get into those moments of crying, I’m emotional. I can’t control it, I cried all the way from the airport,” he said.
His wife Peta asked for prayers on social media before he returned to their home.
On Saturday, when he was safe at home, she wrote that “it’s time for treatment.”
“I never thought that this would directly affect our family in our lives, I never thought that what we see on TV will become a reality in 2022. I’ve never hugged him so tightly.” Shaking and eternally grateful. Now it’s time to heal.
“We cannot return to normal life. Our lives have changed forever. We have a new normal and that’s okay,” she said.
She added that the couple will continue to raise money and raise awareness about Ukraine.
“But many criticize them for continuing to talk about his survival and his decision to leave, while others stayed to fight, and some with no ties to Ukraine went there to take up arms.
The dancer’s wife revealed on social media that strangers gave her cookies while she was going through “hell” waiting for him to come home.
Chmerkovskiy’s wife Peta on Monday asks people to donate to their Ukrainian fundraiser
“My man, you were there and escaped. I don’t blame you for this. But you took a seat on a train with women and children and did a press circle to highlight it. Your outrage now seems… misplaced,” wrote one Twitter user.
“I like Max and I understand that he has a wife and a small child, but yes, he was also between 18 and 60 years old and could have stayed and helped his country. He didn’t. It would be better if his brand just went away and hoped people wouldn’t notice,” said another.
Let me see if I’m eligible. We must see to it that a healthy, strong young man, whose only claim to fame is Dancing with the Stars, gets on the train safely and reaches Poland. Instead of women and children in this place. Hmm, okay, said another.
Last week, he documented his escape from Kyiv on social media.