Maksim Chmerkovskiy of 'Dancing With the Stars' shares videos from Ukraine amid invasion

Dancing With the Stars dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy is currently stuck in Kyiv, Ukraine amid a Russian invasion of the country and on Thursday shared distressing videos of himself on Instagram.

Sharing a video to Instagram, Maksim said, “There’s ALWAYS another way! WAR is NEVER an answer.”

Maksim, who immigrated with his brother Val to the United States in 1994 from their hometown of Odessa, Ukraine, added, “I will never be the same.”

“This is stressful and I’m getting old feelings back, like I’ve done this before. 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.”

The 42-year-old choreographer has been jetting back and forth between the Ukraine and US, where his wife Peta Murgatroyd and son Shai live, for the past six months.

In another video from Kyiv, he said, “Honestly, I’m getting really emotional. It’s been a little difficult. You know me, I stay strong. And I don’t show it, but I want to go back home.”

“What I’m realizing is that my friends whose kids are here, whose moms, dads are here, and elderly people are here, they can’t just escape.”

Maksim also directly called out Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying, “I think that in 2022, [in a] civilized world, this is not the way we do things.”

“This is all one man’s ambition … and however it sounds, however convenient it sounds in Moscow, however comfortable you are where you are in Russia, I just don’t think that this is the right thing and these are the right steps and these are the correct actions.”

Currently, two other US entertainers are reportedly in Ukraine or scheduled to perform in Ukraine, including comedian Louis CK and actor Sean Penn who is reportedly filming a documentary about the invasion.