Maksim Chmerkovskiy has reached Poland.
The Dancing With The Stars pro has been documenting his journey fleeing his native country after the Russian invasion.
The star, who also revealed he was arrested in Kyiv, revealed that after a long ‘claustrophobic’ and ‘traumatizing’ train ride with women and children out of the war torn country.
Maksim, 42, shared a detailed account of his trek to Warsaw, Poland, revealing he was starting his train journey on Monday after he got arrested in Kyiv. The father of one arrived to Warsaw after 31 hours of no sleep.
The latest: Maksim Chmerkovskiy has reached Poland. The Dancing With The Stars pro has been documenting his journey fleeing his native country after the Russian invasion
He took to his Instagram stories explaining that they stopped to change the wheels off the train on their trek to Poland.
‘I’m at a station about 20, 30, 40, I don’t actually know where I’m at but like 30 minutes before the Polish border, they stopped to change wheels on the train, I can’t make this up and let us out… for fresh air and I went to the bathroom and now we’re going back and this is the train,’ as he showed train and the crowds.
‘So now that I see it, there’s… yesterday I didn’t see it it was night I had no idea where we were… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 cars about 130-something people each and one cart that is all sicker kids and people… its not as packed but all the others are packed to the brink.
Maks said it was a stop about ‘thirty minutes from the Polish border’ as he walked to the bathroom.
Dancing With The Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy timeline in Ukraine
February 2
Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who was born in Ukraine but has a US passport, flies to Kyiv with plans to stay for a ‘few months’ film a new Ukrainian show called World of Dance
February 6
The Dancing With The Stars pro, 42, begins filming as a judge on the panel and declares he’s ‘really happy to be back in Ukraine’
February 24
Maksim shares a tearful clip from Kyiv and says ‘I want to go back home’ and says he is ‘about to go into a bomb shelter because s**t’s going down. His wife Peta Murgatroyd, with whom he has a five-year-old son Shai, pleads for his safe return and asks for prayers. She admits: ‘My pain is overwhelming and I’m struggling. Please pray that he has a swift, safe exit.’
February 25
He shares another clip filmed in Kyiv and tells fans he is ‘safe’ but the situation is ‘pretty die’ and that the ‘whole country is being called to go to war. I don’t know the answer, I just want the shooting to stop.’
February 28
Maks reveals he was arrested in Kyiv but doesn’t reveal what led to his arrest. He said the ‘streets are crazy’ and the arrest was ‘probably the least traumatizing moment’ but noted it was a ‘reality check.’ He reveals he plan to flee, noting ‘I’m going to try and make my way out. I’m going to start making my way towards the border. I have options. Just a little nervous but I think it’s going to be alright. I know its’ going to be okay.’ He later boards a train heading to Warsaw alongside women and children, calling the journey ‘claustrophobic.’
March 1
The dancing pro reaches Warsaw, Poland after 31 hours of no sleep on his ‘traumatizing’ train ride women and children fleeing Ukraine following the Russian invasion. The star thanks the ‘amazing Polish people.’
Emotional: Maksim shares a tearful clip from Kyiv and says ‘I want to go back home’ and says he is ‘about to go into a bomb shelter because s**t’s going down’
Made it: The star, who also revealed he was arrested in Kyiv, revealed that after a long ‘claustrophobic’ and ‘traumatizing’ train ride with women and children out of the war torn country
Speaking out: Maksim, 42, shared a detailed account of his trek to Warsaw, Poland, revealing he was starting his train journey on Monday after he got arrested in Kyiv. The father of one arrived to Warsaw after 31 hours of no sleep
His reality: ‘I’m at a station about 20, 30, 40, I don’t actually know where I’m at but like 30 minutes before the Polish border, they stopped to change wheels on the train, I can’t make this up and let us out… for fresh air and I went to the bathroom and now we’re going back and this is the train,’ as he showed train and the crowds
He said there’s about 130 people on each of the five cars on the train, noting that one cart is only for sick children and people so its not as packed as the other four.
The star then showed off the poor conditions of the bathroom he was forced to use during the train stop.
After his arrival to Poland, Maks revealed he’s been running on 31 hours no sleep.
He took a moment to thank the Polish people: ‘I absolutely have to say this: Polish people are amazing!!!! Thank you from the absolute bottom of my heart and soul,’ adding a prayer sign, heart and hands in the air emoji.
Maksim followed it up with footage from people showing Ukrainians allegedly stealing a tank from the Russian army.
Gratitude: He took a moment to thank the Polish people: ‘I absolutely have to say this: Polish people are amazing!!!! Thank you from the absolute bottom of my heart and soul,’ adding a prayer sign, heart and hands in the air emoji
He also posted stories showing expired food the Russian army allegedly issued their militia, with the date of 2015.
Maks later wrote: ‘Russian state propaganda machine will say my last post is fake. Fundamentally flawed way of governing humans by using propaganda (lies) and fear. Benn there, done that… emigrated.’
Maksim lives in California with wife Peta Murgatroyd and their son Shai, five; the dancing pro was born in Ukraine but immigrated to New York with his parents and brother Val in 1994, where they became US citizens.
His words: He also posted stories showing expired food the Russian army allegedly issued their militia, with the date of 2015
Speaking to his followers: He was sharing information about the journey as he headed to the bathroom
Bathroom: The star then showed off the poor conditions of the bathroom he was forced to use during the train stop
He also posted a woman shouting in Ukrainian from her window as the Russian army bombed residential buildings, and not the military structures they have been claiming is their focus.
Another clip showed children making camouflage nets to help in their battle, and another was of an elderly woman with graphic injuries, with her foot blown off.
The Ukrainian star updated followers in series of social media posts on Monday, detailing his ‘traumatizing’ attempt to get out of the country amid the Russian invasion.
Chmerkovskiy, who has been in Kyiv working as a judge on the Ukrainian version of World of Dance, had planned on staying in his native land when the fighting first broke out, however, after he got a ‘reality check’ by being arrested he decided to flee.
The country announced last week that men of fighting age – between 18-60 – were prohibited from leaving Ukraine but since Maks holds a U.S. passport, he is exempt from the mandate.
Real life: Another clip showed children making camouflage nets to help in their battle, and another was of an elderly woman with graphic injuries, with her foot blown off
Monday updates: Chmerkovskiy, who has been in Kyiv working as a judge on the Ukrainian version of World of Dance, had planned on staying in his native land when the fighting first broke out, however, after he got a ‘reality check’ by being arrested he decided to flee
‘I made it on the train. We’re heading to Warsaw (hopefully). Train to Lviv was not an option,’ the choreographer penned. ‘The situation at the train station is insane. AT first it feels manageable, but it get A LOT worse when it comes time to actually board the train.’
‘Long story but all I can say now is that I’m a big man with nothing but a backpack it’s TRAUMATIZING,’ he continued. ‘Currently I’m in a cabin with 4 adults and 7 kids (ages 2-11) which is usually only occupied by maximum of 3 people.’
Maksim revealed that the train car that he’s currently traveling in is outfitted for roughly 30 riders but refugees were told they needed to fit 135 people inside.
‘Walkways are packed. People everywhere. It’s sweaty and claustrophobic,’ he said. Photos from a train station in illustrate the reality star’s situation. Thousands of people were seen bundled up in freezing temperatures standing practically on top of one another as they attempted to get a train out of the country.
Refugees: Chmerkovskiy, who has been in Kyiv working as a judge on the Ukrainian version of World of Dance, had planned on staying in his native land when the fighting first broke out, however, after he got a ‘reality check’ by being arrested he decided to flee
One of the lucky ones: Ukraine announced last week that men of fighting age – between 18-60 – were prohibited from leaving Ukraine but since Maks holds a U.S. passport, he is exempt from the mandate
Fighting-aged men are prohibited from leaving Ukraine under a new mandate so the trains are filled primarily with women and children.
Back in the 1990s, Maksim and his family emigrated to the United States and thus he holds a U.S. passport, allowing him the rare opportunity to flee for safety.
‘What finally broke me is when I was watching an eight-ish year old boy, hysterically crying and not wanting to let go of his father,’ he wrote in a heartbreaking post on Instagram. ‘Verbatim: “if you stay I want to stay too because if they kill you I won’t be able to help”.’
His wife, Peta Murgatroyd, shared his post on her social media feed saying she was ‘so f**king proud’ of her husband for helping out the refugee children.
Maks’ decision to finally leave Kyiv came after he was arrested while in the capital city amid the Russian military assault.
Terrifying: Thousands of people were seen bundled up in freezing temperatures standing practically on top of one another as they attempted to get a train out of the country (Pictured: Evacuation train in Kyiv)
Getting out: Thousands of Ukrainian residents waiting for hours to board trains into neighboring countries as Russian forces continue to shell cities across the country (Pictured: Lviv train station)
‘The streets are crazy,’ he said. ‘At one point I got arrested but again all good, promise. That was probably the least traumatizing moment in this whole thing as far as Ukraine is concerned, but for me, it was just a reality check.’
‘I’m going to try and make my way out. I’m going to start making my way towards the border. I have options.’ Adding: ‘Just a little nervous but I think it’s going to be alright. I know it’s going to be okay.
Maksim posted graphic videos to his stories and grid throughout Ukraine, as the star says he’s tried and stressed out after seeing innocent people being killed.
He said on Sunday: ‘I’m in a very safe place but this is nuts and I think everybody is going through a lot of emotions and i think it’s time I expose mine in a more personal manner.
‘This is a war. This is a crazy situation. It’s insane and I’m losing my final little things. This is not a cry for help. I’m a big boy. I can handle myself.. but I’m starting to not be able to just sort of keep my head.’
Support: His wife, Peta Murgatroyd, shared his post on her social media feed saying she was ‘so f**king proud’ of her husband for helping out the refugee children
‘The reality is, I just want to go home. I’m just hoping for a safe ending to it all.’
His wife Peta, 35, took to Instagram on Sunday with an emotional message in which she shared that an empathetic group of strangers had made a kind gesture to her amid the absence of Maksim.
‘Although I’m going through hell right now and I want it all to end…[there] is light that shines through the darkness,’ said Murgatroyd, who is mother to five-year-old son Shai with Chmerkovskiy, who she wed in July of 2017.
Murgatroyd, an alum of Dancing With the Stars, remains at the family’s home in California amid the uncertain time. She said that strangers baked her cookies ‘and proudly brought them to [her] door.
‘They stood there with smiles so wide. Let me repeat … strangers, whom I don’t talk to thought that they should get in their kitchen and bake me cookies,’ she said. ‘They also took it upon themselves to google if I was allergic to anything, just to make sure they weren’t hurting me.’
The latest: Maksim Chmerkovskiy revealed he was arrested while in Kyiv, Ukraine but called it the ‘least traumatizing moment in this whole thing as far as Ukraine is concerned
Chmerkovskiy has also provided frequent social media updates amid the conflict, as he said Thursday he had not attempted to leave the country due to safety concerns around the border of Poland. The professional dancer said he felt his odds for departure from the Ukraine were helped in having an American passport.
Chmerkovskiy added that the conflict had taken an emotional toll on him, as he said he ‘will never be the same’ in the wake of the invasion.
‘This is stressful and I’m getting old feelings back, like I’ve done this before,’ he said Thursday. ‘This does feel like the way it was when and why we left in the 90s. Like my old PTSD I’ve finally fixed is coming back.’
On Sunday, Chmerkovskiy took to Instagram Stories with a number of messages, urging people in the dance community in European countries to help take care of refugees if they were able to. He shared a number of links to resources to help people exit safely amid the ongoing military conflict.
Chmerkovskiy also wrote, ‘Russia needs a revolution!!! Russian people are being lied to!!! Russians! Wake up! It will take you generations to get over this and generations of people around the world will never forgive you!!!’
On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to put nuclear weapons on enhanced alert for ‘special regime of combat duty’ amid heightened tensions with Europe and the United States following the invasion.
Putin cited aggression toward Russia from NATO as well as economic sanctions and moves shutting down Russian banking institutions using the banking system SWIFT.
The U.N. Security Council is slated to hold an emergency meeting regarding the invasion Monday.
Courage: On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to put nuclear weapons on enhanced alert for ‘special regime of combat duty’ amid heightened tensions with Europe and the United States following the invasion (Maksim, Peta Murgatroyd and son Shai)