‘DWTS’ star Maksim Chmerkovskiy speaks out again from Ukraine: ‘I’m staying here’

Maksim Chmerkovskiy has once again taken to social media to offer updates on the situation in Ukraine.

The ballroom dancer and former “Dancing With the Stars” pro has shared messages and videos from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv this week, and in the wake of ongoing attacks from Russia, he shared more clips on Instagram Friday.

In his latest posts, the 42-year-old explained to his fans and followers that while he's safe, things are getting "pretty dire" around him.

"So I’m out here, I’m safe," Chmerkovisky said in a brief video. "We haven’t been told to move, and I’m just following instructions. That’s all I can say. But the reality is that I’m also talking to my friends that are here, the Ukrainians, and the situation is pretty dire. People have been mobilized. The whole country has been called to go to war. Men, women, boys ... There’s people that I was judging some days ago, in dance competitions, that are going forward and getting guns and getting deployed to defend the country."

While he insisted that he wasn't reporting news, but simply relating what he's witnessed, the Ukrainian-born dancer warned that things could escalate quickly throughout the country.

"I’m just saying, from my experience, people that I am talking to are very aggressively charged and that this is going to be tough," he said. "So, if it’s not resolved in a peaceful manner in some way or form, in the next day, I think it’s going to take a turn for very, very much more aggressive factions and a lot more causalities."

Chmerkovskiy's wife, fellow former "Dancing With the Stars" pro Peta Murgatroyd, who remains in the United States with their 5-year-old son, Shai, reached out to her own followers on Instagram Thursday, asking that they pray for her husband's "swift, safe exit" from Ukraine.

However, Chmerkovisky said in a second message shared Friday that for now, he isn't going anywhere.

"A lot of people asking if I’m making it out," he said in another Instagram video. "I want to clarify: I’m not currently trying to leave. I’m staying here. I’m going to do my best to make sure I’m as safe as possible, but I’m not moving towards the border currently. ... I’m just going to be here and I will keep you posted on what’s happening next."

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