Strictly Come Dancing professional Nikita Kuzmin has given an emotional interview about the escalating situation in Ukraine.
The 23-year-old – who was born and raised in Ukraine, before moving to Italy at nine years old – spoke with presenter Lorraine Kelly on Thursday morning, revealing his grandmother has been caught up in the ongoing conflict.
Voicing his fears for her safety, Nikita told Lorraine: “Luckily, we still have a connection to her, so we are video calling her all the time.
“She’s actually trying to protect us from being scared. Every time we can hear gunshots or explosions in the background, she’s always telling us that it’s a movie that she’s put on TV. Only afterwards, a couple of hours later, she’ll confess that actually it’s a real bomb, real gun shots.”
“It’s incredibly scary,” he said.
Asked whether he had a message for the UK government on behalf of Ukraine, Nikita stated: “Please help us cover the sky… we need help!”
To the people of the UK, he added: “Don’t stay silent.”
Nikita has been vocal about the crisis in Ukraine on his Instagram page since Vladimir Putin invaded the country last week.
After his interview with Lorraine, Nikita shared a string of posts on his story urging his followers to donate money, clothes and other goods to help those in need in Ukraine.
“Just don’t stay silent,” he reiterated. “Talk about it, discuss, inform, post, repost, donate, do something. Make pressure to the government, make pressure to the hospitals, just don’t stay silent.
Nikita joined Strictly last year, having previously served as a pro on the German version of the show, Let’s Dance.
He was partnered with social media star Tilly Ramsay during his inaugural series of Strictly.
Lorraine airs every weekday from 9am on ITV.