Dancing with the Stars alum Maksim Chmerkovskiy has reunited with wife Peta Murgatroyd in Los Angeles after fleeing Ukraine amid Russia's invasion.
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The emotional scene between spouses was captured in a video and published by Entertainment Tonight.
Once Peta and Maksim embraced, they didn't let go of one another for a full 30 seconds. It was hard to see their facial expressions since they were both wearing COVID-19 masks, but it appears Peta was crying because her eyes were very red.
Maksim and Peta then walked out of the airport hand-in-hand wearing matching black clothing and face masks.
"I just don't want to resent peace somewhere else because of what I just saw, that's the reality. I don't know really what to say right this second," Maksim, 42, told ET outside of the airport with Peta by his side.
Maksim, who grew up in Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union, said he was "still trying to process everything" and didn't have a politically-correct statement to make in the moment.
"I just want to go home," Maksim said.
But he elaborated before getting into his car, "The reason why Ukraine is standing right now is because of the Ukrainian people."
"And the fact that the entire world is helping. Huge shout-out to Poland, huge shout-out to neighboring countries," he added. "The way I was treated through the whole process of leaving into Poland, I've just got to bow down to the Polish people."
Maksim urged everybody to get involved.
"I think that in 2022, following this action, we have to completely rethink the way we do things as a planet. There [can] never again be one person who can do something like this ever again. We have to have checks and balances globally, not just one country at a time," Maksim said.
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Maksim announced he was in Poland on Tuesday, March 1 after escaping Kyiv, Ukraine, where he had been working last week as a judge for a new Ukrainian edition of World of Dance when the Russian invasion began.
Maksim began documenting his "traumatic" journey back to the United States on Friday, February 25, one day after Russia first launched missiles into Ukraine, including its capital city Kyiv, and Russian officials invaded.
Maksim's travels included a 23-hour "sweaty and claustrophobic" train ride from Ukraine to Poland and 36 hours without sleep.
He recalled being "freezing" for 12 hours on the train and not wanting to "take up space" from a woman and her children.
Maksim said it "wrong" leaving his fellow Ukrainians behind and "still feels guilty" about getting out of that turmoil alive, especially when so many other innocent civilians, children included, are suffering and/or wounded.
Maksim was put up for adoption in 1994, when he moved to the United States and eventually became a star and guest judge on Dancing with the Stars. But he said earlier this week he always carried a banner for Ukraine and will continue to defend the country.
"I'm having a really f-cking hard time leaving. I'm having a horrible time," Maksim lamented in a Tuesday Instagram video. "I'm having very mixed emotions. I have friends there, my friends are in the front line."
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Peta seemed extremely worried about her husband ever since Russia began its attacks last week.
Peta, who married Maksim in 2017, lit candles for her husband and initially asked fans to pray for Maksim while he was still stuck in Ukraine.
"My pain is overwhelming and I'm struggling, but you sending your positive light and love to him would be the world to me," Peta wrote Thursday, February 24 on Instagram.
"Truly, I wish for nothing more... Please pray that he has a swift, safe exit. I have FAITH. I have HOPE and I have PRAYED so hard. Please pray for Ukraine and the innocent civilians who's lives are being greatly uprooted."
As of Thursday, March 3, one million refugees have fled Ukraine during Russia's invasion, according to CNN, and the U.N. estimates this number could grow to four million.
Ukraine's State Emergency Service also said there have been more than 2,000 civilian deaths thus far, although there have been conflicting accounts about the death toll in Ukraine.
The U.N. human rights office has tallied 227 civilian deaths with over 500 injuries, and the death toll is likely "considerably higher."
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Russia has ramped up assaults on key Ukrainian cities this week, including the country's second-largest city, Kharkiv.
Maksim won Dancing with the Stars' 18th season with Meryl Davis and last competed on the show as a pro dancer on Season 25, but he has also served as a guest judge over the years.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
