“Dancing with the Stars” pro-Maks Chmerkovskiy returned to the United States after escaping Ukraine on Wednesday.
Chmerkovskiy flew to Los Angeles, where he was seen by photographers meeting with his wife Petra Murgatroyd.
Chmerkovskiy spoke to Entertainment Tonight upon his arrival in the U.S.
“I just don’t want to resent peace elsewhere because of what I just saw, that’s the reality. I really don’t know what to say at the moment,” he told the outlet after landing at LAX.
“The reason Ukraine is standing right now is for the Ukrainian people,” Chmerkovskiy said, explaining that this kind of conflict was something many have been waiting for years. “And the fact that everybody’s helping.”
He also thanked Poland specifically for helping refugees from Ukraine and him personally.
“Because of the way I was treated throughout the process of going to Poland, I have to bow to the Polish people,” he said.
Chmerkovskiy has been keeping his fans updated on Instagram as he left his home country amid the ongoing Russian invasion.
On Sunday, he shared an emotional 12-minute video about events unfolding in the country.
“I’m very confident, probably the safest place I can find in this whole affair,” he said at the time. “But I’m also right in the eye of the storm, very close to where all of this is supposed to end, if it ever ends. This is a war. This is a crazy situation, it’s crazy and I’m losing my last little things. This is not a cry for help, I am a big boy, I can handle myself and as I said, I am safe. But I’m starting to not be able to see my head, so I’m trying to stay focused and just trying to let my voice be heard.”
At the time, he asked his fans to take action and share the news of what was happening in Ukraine.
“I witness how a ‘Big Brother’ country is not allowed to express its opinion,” he said. “Regardless of the fact, please make your voice heard and just spread the word that this needs to stop. Stop the shooting. Tonight was crazy. Right now, it’s crazy.”
He would later share that he had been arrested in Kyiv, but that he was “fine”.
Both on Sunday and speaking to the press on Wednesday after landing, Chmerkovskiy warned that other countries would likely see ripple effects from Russia’s invasion of the democratic country.
“If we don’t get involved, this will go everywhere,” he said Wednesday. “I think in 2022, after this action, we have to completely rethink the way we do things as a planet. Never again can there be a person who can do something like this ever again. We have to have checks and balances globally, not just one country at a time.”