KEY POINTS

  • Maksim Chmerkovskiy might return to Ukraine next week
  • He believes it would help ease the guilt of leaving amid the crisis
  •  Chmerkovskiy was in Kyiv when the invasion began

Maksim Chmerkovskiy revealed the emotional difficulty he is facing after witnessing the gruesome results of Russia’s military invasion into Ukraine, adding that he feels "survivor's remorse" since returning to the U.S. from his war-torn country.

"I spent the last couple of days with survivor's remorse, I believe that is what it is called," the 42-year-old ballroom dancing champion said in a recent interview with CNN. "I'm currently working on an opportunity to go back. Probably sometime next week, I'm going to go back to Poland and join the efforts on the ground and sort of like, want to justify my safe out that way."

Chmerkovskiy was in Kyiv filming the reality dance competition “World of Dance UA” when the invasion began. Since then, the “Dancing With The Stars” alum has kept his 1.2 million Instagram followers updated on the situation in Ukraine beginning with the time he was about to go to a bomb shelter up to the time he boarded a stressful 23-hour train ride from Kyiv to Poland.

Chmerkovskiy also told CNN's Anderson Cooper that he felt bad for being the only man in a train that carried women and children refugees out of Ukraine.

“I felt really bad going and the feeling sunk in even worse because when I got to the train station [that it’s all women and children]; that literally I am too big and I am taking too much space,” he said. “I put myself in between trains. I literally moved out of the area where people would have all been. Internally, I justified my space because I was outside but it was too freezing. I would pace around that space, come in and then throw back outside.”

Chmerkovskiy expressed anger against Russian President Vladimir Putin just before he boarded the plane back to the U.S. and said in a clip posted on his Instagram page, "He didn't just lie to us and the entire world. He lied to his people for a very long time. Now, they are confused and they are starting to be not sure…there's also a resilient bunch. He doesn't represent all the Russians."

The professional dancer made it back to the U.S. on March 3 and was photographed sharing a long embrace with his wife Peta Murgatroyd before walking out of the airport. He told ET’s Kevin Frazier while at the terminal of LAX , "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.”

The outlet tweeted a clip of the reunion and wrote, "It was an emotional reunion for Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd as he arrived home safely from Ukraine."

Chmerkovskiy also addressed the media who waited for him at the airport and was quoted by ET as saying, "The reason why Ukraine is standing right now is because of the Ukrainian people and the fact that the entire world is helping."

Peta Murgatroyd, Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Pete Murgatroyd understands that the competition may have been stressful for her husband, Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Pictured: Murgatroyd, Chmerkovskiy attend the VALENTINNICOLE fashion show at Lovage on Feb. 9, 2017 in New York City. Getty Images/Monica Schipper