STRICTLY pro Nikita Kuzmin has been crying for weeks over fears for his family still trapped in Ukraine.
Nikita, who was partnered with Tilly Ramsay on the last series of the BBC One show, was born and raised in Ukraine before moving to Italy aged nine.
The 24-year-old’s elderly grandmother miraculously escaped Kyiv earlier this month by walking miles and crossing the border into Poland where he was waiting for her.
Speaking about his constant worry for his relatives, he told podcast Private Parts: “She had an operation last year and she couldn’t walk.
“We were thinking, ‘How is she going to do it?’ But she just made it. She crossed the border. She just did it.
“We still don’t know how. I think it’s just your instincts, your survival instincts kicks in.”
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Unfortunately his paternal grandparents and an auntie are still in Kyiv and he’s convinced the Russian army will either take – or destroy – the city before long.
He added: “I’ve been crying for two weeks. Everybody knows what’s about to happen to the capital.
“They’re about to take it. If they’re not going to take it, they’re still going to use even more of the illegal arms, because they’re now launching those illegal missiles, which are forbidden, even during war.”
After he drove 13 hours to rescue his gran at Krakow train station in Poland, Nikita was greeted by “heartbreaking” scenes.
He said: “I could just see the faces of people who were fleeing, which are 99 per cent women and kids… it’s just heartbreaking. It’s unfair, it’s not right, it’s just terrible. It felt unreal.
“You just see how drained and how tired they are, and you still have those mothers who are trying to stay strong, because their kids are also tired and they don’t know what’s happening and they have to stay strong because if they’re not staying strong, what’s happening next?”
Surprisingly, he says he “never liked” President Zelenskyy, prior to the conflict.
Asked if he was a fan of the former comic, he says: “I never liked him. No. I mean he’s a comedian. I’ve been watching him from when I was a kid.”
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But on the way he’s handled the Russian invasion, he adds: “I think it’s huge. I think it’s absolutely beautiful.
“And the way he communicates with people and keeps inspiring.”
