CHECK OUT WeThePeople.store and WeThePeople.wine for awesome gifts and snarky swag!
Maksim Chmerkovskiy, the Ukrainian American dancer who performed on “Dancing With The Stars,” has posted a series of emotional videos from within Ukraine as the country is being attacked by Russian forces.
Sharing the videos on Instagram, Chmerkovskiy told his 750,000 followers, “I’m uneasy, I’m very scared.”
He is in Kyiv as the Russian military closes in on the capital city, and said he was still there “contrary to what I should have done a while ago” because no one “saw this coming.”
“Not that no one saw this coming, but everyone was hoping that the finality of the situation would be averted,” Chmerkovskiy explained. “That there was not going to be this kind of aggression.”
The video caption included this remark, (** Language warning) “I’m crying as I’m typing this because all man deserves to worry about ‘bbq grills’ and not fucking war. Hug your loved ones.”
View this post on Instagram
In a second video, Chmerkovskiy, 42, fights back emotion as he tries to share his experiences with the outside world.
“I want to go back home,” he said, choking up. “I realize that I have the way to, I have a different passport and my family is far away. What I’m realizing is that my friends whose kids are here … they can’t just escape.”
Chmerkovskiy, who immigrated to the United States when he was 14, then addressed the Russian people directly.
“Dear Russians, I know you know me and I know that a lot of people currently in Russia that are watching this that are watching the news, and hearing the propaganda, and hearing this complete nonsense that’s been talked about,” Chmerkovskiy said. “I am not at this point someone who is pleading, you know, for someone else’s safety from a far distance. I’m somebody who’s about to go into a bomb shelter because sh*t’s going down.”
“I think that in the year 2022, in a civilized world this is not the way we do things, he continued. “As a powerful, forward-thinking nation — not a third-world kind of country — I think the Russians need to get up and actually say something, because no one’s opinion is being heard.”
Speaking of Vladimir Putin, he said, “This is all one man’s ambition.”
“I’m very scared and don’t know what words to use, but I do know that at the very least I have a chance. I have a passport and a way out. A lot of people do not, and it’s f—ing nonsense,” he said. “I love Ukraine, it’s an incredible pleasure to spend six months now on the ground. I fell back in love. I know now who these people are, what this country is and what it stands for. It’s totally not what is being portrayed to the Russian people in order to justify this invasion.”
View this post on Instagram
In a third video that appeared to be from a hotel lobby, a stressed Chmerkovskiy said things were pretty “dire,” explaining “the whole country is being called to go to war. Men, women, boys … are going forward and getting guns and getting deployed to defend the country.”
“I’m out here, again, I’m safe. We haven’t been told to move, and I’m just following instructions. That’s all I can say,” he said. “But the reality is that I’m also talking to my friends that are here, the Ukrainians, and the situation is pretty dire.”
View this post on Instagram
Fearing the worst, he added, “If it’s not resolved in a peaceful manner in some way or form in the next day or so, or two, I think it’s gonna take a turn for very, very much more aggressive actions and a lot more casualties.”
YOU CAN SUPPORT THE TRUCKERS SAFELY HERE!
( Note: Olympic Media is helping truckers meet their financial needs)
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.