‘DWTS’ Alum Maksim Chmerkovskiy Posts Videos From Ukraine Amid Russian Invasion

“Dancing With The Stars” choreographer and champion Maksim Chmerkovskiy uploaded video updates on Ukraine Thursday before he went to a bomb shelter after Russian forces invaded his homeland.

In the Instagram clip, the reality dancing competition star is seen standing on a balcony in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. “There’s ALWAYS another way! WAR is NEVER an answer,” he wrote.

"#@standwithukraine P.S. 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. I literally only just forgot about those “always on the edge” feelings and actually started worrying about things like bbq grills. I’m crying as I’m typing this…Hug your loved ones," the 42-year-old ballroom dance instructor continued.

“I’m not a social media guy in times of personal difficulty…everyone was hoping that the finality of this situation would be averted…that there’s not gonna be this kind of aggression… his kind of aggressive measures,” he said as loud sirens began blasting on the streets. He also shared a video of what appears to be a family leaving the capital.

In another upload, Maksim became emotional and told his followers that he realized he has a way to return to the U.S. but he is thinking about his friends in Ukraine who cannot easily leave the country.

"What I'm realizing is that my friends whose kids are here, whose moms, dads are here and elderly people who are here, they can't just escape," he said.

“I am not at this point, someone who is pleading for someone else’s safety from a far distance. I’m somebody who’s about to go to a bomb shelter,” he said as he struggled to fight tears in between sentences. “I think that in 2022 civilized world, this is not how we do things. The Russians need to get up and say something. However comfortable you are in Russia, this is not the right thing,” he emphasized.

Maksim and his brother Val, who also competes on “DWTS,” were born in Odesa, Ukraine but immigrated to the U.S. with their family in 1994.

A representative for Chmerkovskiy told CNN that the dancing champion is in Ukraine as he is working on the reality competition series, "World of Dance UA."