“Guys, I’m fine.”
This was the initial video message from Maxim Chmerkovsky, after the famous dancer and TV presenter spent several days in bomb shelters in Kyiv during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
But he posted the video with another message:
“I am in Warsaw. I’m at the hotel. I’m not well.”
After staying awake for 36 hours, including about 23 hours on a train from Ukraine to Poland, the Ukrainian American Star Dance Champion turned to his 1.1 million followers on Instagram, where he posted regular updates throughout anxious conflict.
“I’m scared, I’m confused, I’m horrified,” he said in the video. “I’ve just been through some nonsense that will require a lot of therapy.”
Chmerkowski, 42, who lives in Malibu, California and co-owns the Dance with Me dance studios in Glen Rock and Fort Lee – a place he calls home – recorded the video around 9pm Polish time from the safety of a hotel in Warsaw. .
He said he felt guilty for taking a seat on the crowded train, but thanked friends for helping and agreeing to pick him up after traveling from Kyiv.
“I am grateful for the support I saw along the way,” he said, praising the actions of the Poles.
But he kept his focus on those who remain in Ukraine.
“The war is just heating up,” he said. “I keep seeing reports and they will get worse.”
Chmerkovski said it was important to share photos of the war, no matter how scary.
“It has to come out,” he said. “We have become so sterile with the way we receive the news. “Oh, that’s very clear.” Oh, I can’t believe they showed it on TV. Well, I can’t believe you see this on the street. I can’t believe that the people passing by today, a few hours ago, were hit by a rocket and that burned the whole family to the ground. Mother, father and two children. I have this video and I have this image in my head as something that also happened. It’s so close and it’s so real. “
Chmerkovski has a 5-year-old son, Shai, with his wife, Dancing with the Stars partner Peta Murgatroyd, who just a few days ago begged people to pray for her husband’s safe return.
In his social media posts, Chmerkovsky rallied against Russian disinformation as he shared scenes across the country of the devastation and devastation caused by the invasion.
He called Russia’s approach a “fundamentally wrong way to govern people through the use of propaganda (lies) and fear … I’ve been there, done this … emigrated.”
The video contains slight curses
Chmerkovsky was born in Odessa, Ukraine, and came to New York in 1994 with his family, including his brother, fellow Dancing with the Stars champion Valentin Chmerkovsky. He said watching Russian forces fight Ukraine made him feel like he was back in high school in Brooklyn, watching “a small child beaten by a big child”.
“We all pass, we think it’s wrong, but we can’t just jump and that’s the reality of life. And this is because we are also afraid of the big child. We don’t want to be punched in the face. “
He called on the Russians to oppose the official line of conflict and called on those around them to support Ukraine – “You must join,” he said. “It’s a common situation.”
Chmerkovsky was in his home country (he was born there when he was part of the Soviet Union) months before the Russian invasion. He was there to film the Ukrainian version of the TV series World of Dance, and was also a judge on last year’s Ukrainian Dancing with the Stars (Ukrainian president). President Vladimir Zelenski was a contestant in 2006). He said his experience allowed him to reconnect with the land in which he was born after being uprooted as a teenager.
He had just returned to Ukraine from a brief visit to his home in Malibu when Russia invaded. Chmerkovsky said his sources in Ukraine do not believe tensions will escalate to the point of war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said, is “crazy,” a “maniac” trying to build an empire “based on old traditions … we no longer live in this world.”
“He doesn’t think about a man,” Cmerkowski said. “He thinks very differently.”
He said he remained convinced that Ukraine would be able to stand up to Russia and Putin with the help of a united global front.
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You can find Amy Kuperinski at [email protected] and followed in @AmyKup on Twitter.