Maksim Chmerkovskiy arrested in Ukraine

Maksim Chmerkovskiy was arrested in Ukraine.

The 42-year-old dancer was in the capital city Kyiv filming ‘World of Dance’ when Russian president Vladimir Putin launched a military invasion on the country last Thursday (24.02.2022) and took to Instagram where he noted that getting arrested was the “least traumatising” part of his experience so far.

He said: “The streets are crazy. At one point I got arrested but again all good, promise. That was probably the least traumatising moment in this whole thing as far as Ukraine is concerned, but for me, it was just a reality check.”

Ukrainian-born Maksim – who lives in the U.S with his wife and fellow ‘Dancing with the Stars’ pro Peta Murgatroyd with their five-year-old son Shai – also explained that he is going to try to leave the country and has “options” that put him in a better position than most.

He continued: “I’m going to try to make my way out, start trying to get close to the border. I’m just trying to stay focused. I have options. My options are better than most people’s, unfortunately. I’m a little nervous to be honest with you, but I think it’s going to be all right. Well, I know it’s going to be okay.”

The TV star has been sharing updates regularly with fans since the start of the invasion and had previously explained that he was “very scared” in a video which showed a passing army truck and in which sirens could be heard.

He said: “This is the reality. I’m in Kyiv, contrary to what I probably should’ve done a while ago, and not that no one saw this coming, but everybody was hoping that the finality of this situation would be averted, that there wasn’t going to be these kinds of aggressive measures. I want to go back home [to the U.S.]. And I realise that I have the way to — I realise that I have a different passport, and my family is far away .I’m uneasy, I’m very scared … but I do know, at the very least, I have a chance. I have a passport and a way out. A lot of people here do not, and it’s f****** nonsense.”