STRICTLY pro Nikita Kuzmin has hit out at Russian friends in the dance world who refuse to condemn the invasion of his native Ukraine.
It comes as Strictly stars Katya Jones and Luba Mushtuk have stayed silent following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
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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.
His elderly grandmother escaped Kyiv earlier this month, by walking walking miles in the freezing cold, when she could “barely walk”.
The 24-year-old said on podcast Private Parts it was hard not to be ‘angry’ with fellow pros who have publicly ignored the crisis.
He said: “The only moment when I have actual anger, because I don’t like to experience anger, so I try always to find a different emotion, is when I see the friends which I have in Russia – mostly dancers – that don’t know, or ignore, or just don’t know better.
“Because of all the propaganda and all the influence which is happening.
“This makes me really angry because it’s just unfair.”
The Sun revealed Strictly dancers have been left divided on whether Katya and Luba should remain on the show, claiming it would be in “bad taste”.
Nikita, 24, and Nadiya Bychkova, 32, are Ukrainian.
A source on the show said: “Tensions are high and there’s a lot of strong feeling about this.
“Some of the dancers would want producers to make a decision and say ‘You can’t come back for the next series’.”
Meanwhile, Nikita said he had “been crying for two weeks” over the plight of Ukraine and his family members still trapped there.
While detailing his maternal grandmother’s miraculous escape, despite barely being able to walk, Nikita said: “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.”
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.
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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.”
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.”
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