Maks Chmerkovskiysays he’s made it out of Ukraine amid theRussian invasion.
“I’m in Poland,” he wrote on his Story, adding emojis of the Ukrainian flag, the Polish flag and hands in prayer.
Earlier in the day, Chmerkovskiy filmed footage outside after the train he had been traveling on stopped to change its wheels.
“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. Can’t make this up,” he said.
Maks Chmerkovskiy/ Instagram
Once the train stopped, Chmerkovskiy said that he and his fellow passengers were allowed to leave their cars.
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“[They] let us out to [have] some fresh air, and I went to the bathroom and now we’re going back,” he said, before pivoting his camera to show the train with a long line of passengers waiting outside of it.
Sharing what he was seeing, the professional dancer said, “There’s … five cars, about 130-some people each. There’s one wagon that’s all sicker kids and people so it’s not as packed, but all the others are packed to the brink. It’s crazy.”
Maks Chmerkovskiy Instagram
The updates come after Chmerkovskiy told followers Monday that he had “made it on the train” bound for Warsaw.
He wrote, “Train to Lviv was not an option. The situation at the train station is insane,” adding, “AT first it feels manageable, but it gets 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.”
In a separate message posted to his Instagram Story Monday, he added, “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. Verbatim ‘if you stay I want to stay too because if they kill you I won’t be able to help.’ "
It is unclear how Chmerkovskiy was able to leave Ukraine. Currently, men ages 18-60 arereportedly prohibitedfrom leaving the country under a mobilization order.
Chmerkovskiy previously told his Instagram followers,“I have a passport and a way out” in a video posted to his account last week. He added, “A lot of people here do not.”
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Chmerkovskiy left Ukraine as Russia’s attack on the country continues. Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, with forces moving from the north, south and east.
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Various countries have also pledged aid or military support to Ukraine, whose president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has pleaded for peace talks while urging his country to resist.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the interest of so-called “peacekeeping.”
“The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine,” PresidentJoe Bidensaid as the invasion began in force in February.
source: people.com
