Dancing with the Stars star Maksim Chmerkovskiy escaped war-torn Ukraine when the country’s officials ordered him to leave as an American citizen.
However, after Maksim returned to the United States to see his wife and son, he said he felt survivor’s guilt.
While Maksim is not a soldier, and he is not a Ukraine citizen, he chose to return to Poland to help out in the wartime efforts.
Maksim is back in Poland after Ukraine escape
Maksim said when he was back in the United States that he wanted to go back to Poland and join the wartime efforts.
He followed through with that promise.
Maksim is now back in Poland and he has joined the efforts in helping Ukrainian refugees.
Maksim is still keeping fans updated on Instagram.
On Sunday, Maksim posted a video where he talked about his work with the refugees and some fundraising opportunities for people wishing to help out. He also asked for advice about large climate-controlled tents to help the refugees remain comfortable.
He also promoted a GoFundMe campaign to help the refugees.
“These towns are running out of space,” Maksim said. “This is an actual problem, these few towns announced they cannot accept any more refugees. Currently where I’m in, in Warsaw, everywhere you go is Ukrainian. Everybody is a refugee.”
Maksim introduces Jakub Rybicki to his fans
In a second video, Maksim introduced fellow dancer Jakub Rybicki to his fans.
“I have supported what @jakub_rybicki_ has been doing since the beginning of war,” Maksim said.
“He put his personal life on hold and been working seven days a week almost non stop, driving back and forth into Ukraine, delivering A LOT of aid, picking people up at the border and finding a place for them to stay.”
“So far he picked up and placed over 200 people with another 1000 planned for in the next few weeks.”
Maksim then mentioned that Jakub had a PayPal that people could send money to help him as he continues to help the refugees as they enter Poland.
“I visited Jakub and 12 people he has living right now in his own house,” Maks wrote. “I have also asked all of you to support him and his personal efforts financially. I wanted to show you a tiny part of what he has done and where your support goes.”
Dancing with the Stars is on hiatus. The dancing reality competition series will return to ABC in late 2022.