Maksim Chmerkovsky is back in Poland, working to help Ukrainian refugees, only a few weeks after the Dancing With The Stars pro returned home after the start of the war. When the invasion of Ukraine first started, Maks found himself in the middle of a war zone, circumstances similar to when he was a child growing up in Soviet-occupied Ukraine. He did everything he could to document his experience living through the invasion and often went live on Instagram to educate his followers about what was actually going on in the country. Maks was in his home country to film Dancing With The Stars Ukraine, on which he is a judge. He had been traveling to Ukraine on and off for months prior to the start of the war.
After a few days living in bomb shelters, Maks determined it was safe to leave and found his way onto a train bound for Poland. After arriving in Poland, Maks shared the mixed emotions he felt while on the journey. He explained that the train was so full, there was no room for him to sit down, leading him to feel guilty for taking up space in the train that could have gone to someone else. He described seeing small children scared for their lives and trying to make himself as small as possible in order not to take up so much space. Cameras were there to capture his emotional reunion with his wife, Peta Murgatroyd.
A few weeks after landing in Los Angeles, Maks went live on Instagram on Sunday to explain to fans just how bad the refugee crisis has gotten, and continues to be, reminding everyone that the war is not slowing down and is only getting worse. He informed fans that many cities across Poland are running out of places to house the refugees, and soon they will have nowhere to go. According to him, a few towns announced they can no longer take in any refugees. With the invasion rapidly moving forward, and with more and more people getting injured, he explained that this is a big problem. In Warsaw, where Maks is currently staying, he claimed everywhere he looks he sees Ukrainians.
Maks also took the time to remind his followers to continue to donate to humanitarian organizations working to help the refugees. He and his family started Baranova27, an organization aimed to help the displaced Ukrainian population, which is named after the street in Ukraine where he and his brother Val grew up. In a previous interview, Maks explained that he experienced heavy survivor's guilt and felt as if he had to do something to give back in order to justify his escape. In his live video, he claimed to have been grateful to be home and to have been able to see his friends and family but that he was ready to start working on ways to help those in need and ease the survivor's guilt. This is when he created the GoFundMe for Baranova27 and started planning his return to Poland.
It will be interesting to see if going through this trauma will lead Maks to getting involved in more humanitarian crisis efforts in the future. He has explained how impactful this experience has been and how it has permanently changed the Dancing With The Stars pro's perspective on life. As a result, it is certainly possible he will expand this to other crises.
Source: Maks Chmerkovskiy/Instagram