Dancing with the Stars alum Maksim Chmerkovskiy is back in Eastern Europe, having flown to Poland to help with refugee relief efforts after he was trashed by critics for fleeing his native Ukraine when the Russian invasion began.

Chmerkovskiy, 42, was in Kyiv filming World of Dance Ukraine when Putin invaded on February 24 and escaped on a train packed mainly with women and children.

He returned to his California home to Malibu, where he lives with his wife and son, in early March.

On Sunday, he posted a video to Instagram from Poland detailing what was going on with him and his attempt to assist in relief efforts. .

Dancing with the Stars alum Maksim Chmerkovskiy announced in an Instagram video that he is back in Europe, having flown to Poland to help with refugee relief efforts after he was trashed by critics for fleeing Ukraine when the Russian invasion began.

Chmerkovskiy, 42, was in Kyiv filming World of Dance Ukraine when Putin invaded on February 24 and escaped war on a train packed with women and children and returned home to Malibu, where he lives with his wife (pictured left) and son, in early March.

'My father and my bother, together with a lot of people that we work with all the time, that we just friends with, and with the help of whom, we've started our organization.

He said he's also got plans to link up with Bethenny Frankel's BStrong charity to assist with their work, before sharing that he'll be on the ground in Poland to help distribute aid.     .

'People are getting hurt worse, there are more people hurt, and there are more people effected,' Chmerkovskiy added.    .

Before the war broke out, Maks was flying back and forth to Kyiv to work on Ukrainian dance TV shows

Chmerkovskiy is shown on a train from Kyiv to Poland

Chmerkovskiy had said a couple of weeks ago that he would go back to Poland to help with relief efforts

Sasha, who runs Dance With Me USA, lives in Edgewater, New Jersey, with his wife, Larisa. 

His escape from the conflict was of great relief to his fans but enraged critics and people who had not watched the show, especially given how many elderly people, women and foreigners are in Ukraine, choosing to fight. 

Maksim Chmerkovskiy with his wife Peta Murgatroyd in Malibu after he arrived back in America from Ukraine