"Dancing With the Stars" pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy makes it to Poland after fleeing Ukraine
POLAND (KABC) -- "Dancing With the Stars" pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy is now safe in Poland, he confirmed on social media.
He kept followers on Instagram updated while he made his way out of Ukraine.
Chmerkovskiy was in his native country working on a dance competition series when the Russian invasion broke out last week.
He spoke on Instagram Live Tuesday detailing what he witnessed on his way out of the war-torn country.
"It has turned into, into a David and Goliath of just massive proportions," Chmerkovskiy said in the Instagram Live post. "It's just reality. It's David and Goliath in reality. I feel like I'm in high school again in Brooklyn, and I feel like I'm in a hallway and I feel like I'm watching a little kid get beat up by a big kid."
The Ukrainian-American dancer praised Poland and its people for accepting Ukrainian refugees into their country during this troubling time.
He shared a post Tuesday morning showing he made it to Poland safely.
In a video he released Monday, Chmerkovskiy said he had been arrested in Kyiv.
"At one point I got arrested," he said. "But -- again -- all good. I promise. But that was probably the least traumatizing moment in this whole thing, as far as Ukraine is concerned, but for me it was just a reality check."
He left Ukraine shortly after the arrest and he documented his trek to the Polish border.
He was filming a project called "World of Dance U-A" in Ukraine when the invasion began.
