Dancing with the Stars pro Maks Chmerkovskiy calls out former partner Kirstie Alley over Ukraine-Russia tweet

Ukraine-born dancer appeared on ‘DWTS’ with Alley in 2011

Dancing With The Stars professional Maksim Chmerkovskiy has called out Kirstie Alley’s tweet about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a since-deleted tweet addressing Russia’s attack on its neighbour, Alley wrote: “I don’t know what’s real or what is fake in this war. So I won’t be commenting. I’ll pray instead.”

Chmerkovskiy – who was born in Ukraine and has been in the country amid the ongoing attack – danced with Alley on season 12 of Dancing With The Stars in 2011.

The professional dancer shared a screenshot of Alley’s tweet, accompanied by a caption directly addressing his former dance partner.

“Dear Kirstie, we haven’t spoken in a while, but I clearly remember being right next to you while you were organising trucks of aid during Hurricane Sandy and I remember all that you were saying to me about situations where innocent are suffering,” he wrote.

“That same energy is needed right now. No one needs your prayer if you don’t know what’s real or fake.”

Chmerkovskiy has been posting updates from Ukraine on his Instagram story, keeping his followers up-to-date with the ongoing crisis.

“The night went fine but there was a lot of shooting in Kyiv and some neighbourhoods around… This is real, this is really happening,” he said in one video.

(PA)

The TV star admitted that he was “not a military adviser” but told viewers that “it seems like the Ukrainians are making a pretty dramatic stance and [are] pretty heroic and pretty historic, if I may”.

Russia began its invasion of Ukraine early on Thursday (24 February). CCTV cameras caught Russian military vehicles rolling through border force checkpoints as ground troops crossed the Crimea border.

Heavy fighting is underway in Ukraine’s second city as Russian troops entered Kharkiv in the early hours of Sunday morning (27 February).

You can follow live updates on the Russia-Ukraine crisis here.