'Dancing with the Stars' alum Maksim Chmerkovskiy said he wants 'the shooting to stop' as he prepared to go into a bomb shelter in Ukraine

• "Dancing with the Stars" alum Maksim Chmerkovskiy said he was going into a bomb shelter on Friday.
• The Ukrainian-born dancer is currently in Kyiv and has been posting updates from his home country.

"Dancing with the Stars" alum Maksim Chmerkovskiy shared an Instagram story on Friday that he was going into a bomb shelter in Kyiv and that "everybody's a little panicked" after sirens blared.

Chmerkovskiy said in his Instagram stories on Thursday that he was "stuck" in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv because he heard it was "not safe" to move toward the border and attempt to leave. Prior to his statement on Friday, he said he was anticipating airstrikes in Kyiv. Eyewitnesses have reported explosions and gunfire throughout the country since the Russian invasion began.

"I don't know the answer. I just want the shooting to stop," Chmerkovskiy said.

Chmerkovskiy also said on Friday that he was preparing to relocate throughout the night due to the ongoing sirens in the city.

"They said it's going to be like this, up and down, all night today," he said. "There's going to be sirens, we're going to be told to go, and we'll see what happens."

Representatives for Chmerkovskiy declined to comment. A representative for Chmerkovskiy referred Insider's Kim Renfro back to his video updates as his official comments on Thursday.

The Ukrainian-born professional dancer has been posting live video updates for his followers this week after Putin authorized a full-scale assault on the country. Chmerkovskiy has been living in Kyiv on and off for the last six months while serving as a judge on the country's version of "Dancing with the Stars," as reported by Us Weekly.

The dancer has also been sharing resources for those who want to help Ukrainians, including the aid that "The Real Housewives of New York" star Bethenny Frankel set up for those who cross the border into Poland. He also advocated against war, saying in a video Saturday that the people of Ukraine shouldn't be involved in the conflict. Chmerkovskiy appeared to be outside the bomb shelter in the updates posted on Saturday.

"The kids and elderly are not part of this. The women are not part of this. Fuck it, man, even the men are not part of this. We didn't choose to be. There's got to be a way to pause it and continue talking for as long as it takes," he said.

Insider's live blog of the invasion is covering developments as they happen.