Former Dancing with the Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy who chronicled his harrowing exit from Kyiv Ukraine after war broke out is back in Poland helping with humanitarian relief efforts. The dancer posted an update from Warsaw on his Instagram account Sunday night (March 20).
“Hi everybody,” he says in the video. “I’m fine. I’m good. I spent some time at home. I enjoyed some of that Los Angeles weather, saw my family, saw my friends, obviously spent some time.” Maks reports that he has been “working on tangible opportunities to help,” and announces that he and his family, including his brother Valentin and father, have started a charitable organization Baranova 27 and a Go Fund Me page.
Baranova 27 is the address where Maks grew up in Ukraine
“For those of who’ve been following, Baranova 27 is the address where my father, myself and Val were born, in Odessa in Ukraine,” Maks says. “So, that’s where sort of our roots are at. And we’ve been working diligently on making Baranova 27 something that, as big as it took off, that it can continue that way.”
Maks will work on the ground in Poland to organize and distribute aid. Additionally, he will assist reality star Bethany Frankel and her charitable organization, BStrong.
The pro-dancer was in Ukraine filming World of Dance UA when the Russian invasion began. He spent nearly a week amid air raids and gunfire before escaping the country via a train to Poland and eventually by plane to his home in L.A.
Don’t forget Ukraine, says Maks
Maks asks that people not become fatigues, because Ukraine needs help, more than ever.
“I would really, really like for you guys to give yourself a day off” Chmerkovskiy says. “Tune out, go to church, spend time with your family. Do your thing. But please, come back to us and come back to realization that a lot of people still need our help, and we should continue providing this support, because we now showed Ukraine as a world, that we can all do it together.”
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