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Peta Murgatroyd is pleading for prayers as her husband Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who is in his native country of Ukraine, shares updates of the conflict unfolding in Kyiv.
“Please pray for my husband Maks. I don’t usually ask these things from my social media network, however today is extremely hard and the next few will be even harder,” the “Dancing with the Stars” shared on Instagram Thursday.
“Many of you are asking for details and I don’t have the answers, but yes, he is safe right now. Please pray that he comes home soon. Please pray that he has a swift, safe exit,” the 35-year-old wrote. “I have FAITH. I have HOPE and I have PRAYED so hard.”
“Please pray for Ukraine and the innocent civilians who’s [sic] lives are being greatly uprooted,” the dancer shared. “I grew to love this country the couple of times I visited and they’re in an unfathomable situation.”
‘DWTS’ MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY OF UKRAINE POSTS TEARFUL VIDEO FROM KYIV: ‘I’M VERY SCARED’
Peta Murgatroyd pleaded for her husband’s return on Instagram.
(Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
Chmerkovskiy, 42, and Murgatroyd tied the knot in 2017. The couple shares a 5-year-old son named Shai.
Chmerkovskiy responded on Murgatroyd’s comments section with a teary-eyed emoji and a red heart emoji.
Chmerkovskiy, a choreographer known for showcasing his talents on “Dancing with the Stars,” revealed on Thursday that he’s terrified as he plans to head to a bomb shelter. He also shared a glimpse of the scene unfolding in the heart of Kyiv, where parents could be seen walking with their children with bags and suitcases, desperate to get out.
“I’m in Kyiv, contrary to what I probably should have done a while ago, but again everybody has sources and resources and I have mine and I trust my sources and no one saw this coming. Not that no one saw this coming, but everyone was hoping that the finality of this situation would be averted, that there’s not going to be this kind of aggression,” he began in the video.
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Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd tied the knot in 2017.
(Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
His video showed ambulances and big trucks making their way down the streets.
“That’s military,” he continued, adding that he’s been “getting really emotional.”
“You know me, I stay strong, and I don’t show it, but I want to go back home, and I realize that I have the weight to. I realize that. I have a different passport and my family is far away. What I’m realizing is that my friends, their kids, are here. Moms, dads are here, and elderly people are here, and they can’t just escape,” Chmerkovskiy said.
He then shared a message for the Russian people.
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Maksim Chmerkovskiy has documented the situation impacting Ukraine using social media.
(Michael Tran/FilmMagic)
“Dear Russians, I know you know me and I know there’s a lot of people currently in Russia that are watching this, watching the news, hearing the propaganda, hearing this complete nonsense that’s been talked about. I am not at this point someone who is pleading for someone else’s safety from a far distance, from a safe distance. I’m somebody that’s about to go into a bomb shelter because s–t’s going down.
“I think that in 2022 civilized world, this is not the way we do things. I think that as a powerful forward-thinking nation and not a third-world kind of country, I think the Russians need to get up and actually say something because no one’s opinion has been heard. This is all one man’s ambition of just something, and however it sounds, however convenient it sounds in Moscow, however comfortable you are in Russia, I just don’t think that this is the right thing and this is the right steps and these are the correct actions.”
The “Dancing with the Stars” pro wrote in his caption that he will “never be the same.” He said it’s bringing back “old feelings” from the 1990s when his family left the country.
“This does feel like the way it was when and why we left in the 90s. Like my old PTSD, I’ve finally fixed is coming back. I literally only just forgot about those ‘always on the edge’ feelings and actually started worrying about things like bbq grills. I’m crying as I’m typing this because all man deserves to worry about ‘bbq grills’ and not f—ing war.”
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Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd share a son.
(Rodin Eckenroth)
He asked his followers to hug their loved ones.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, unleashing airstrikes on cities and military bases and sending troops and tanks from multiple directions in a move that could rewrite the world’s geopolitical landscape. Ukraine’s government pleaded for help as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee.
President Vladimir Putin ignored global condemnation and cascading new sanctions as he unleashed the largest ground war in Europe in decades, and chillingly referred to his country’s nuclear arsenal. He threatened any foreign country trying to interfere with “consequences you have never seen.”
Ukrainian officials said their forces were battling Russians on multiple fronts and had lost control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
MEGHAN MARKLE AND PRINCE HARRY CONDEMN RUSSIAN INVASION: ‘WE STAND WITH THE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a joint press conference with his counterparts from Lithuania and Poland following their talks in Kyiv on Feb. 23, 2022.
(SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
“Russia has embarked on a path of evil, but Ukraine is defending itself and won’t give up its freedom,” Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted.
Later, he offered Russia an end to the hostilities.
“It wasn’t Ukraine that chose the path of war, but Ukraine is offering to go back to the path of peace,” he said.
Fox News’ Melissa Roberto and The Associated Press contributed to this report.