Dancing With The Stars professional dancer Denys Samson has told of his fear for the safety of his mother and aunt in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian pro dancer, who is paired with singer-songwriter Erica-Cody, appeared with Jennifer Zamparelli on her RTE 2FM show where he said it is "hard" to say how he's feeling.
He told how many of his dancer friends have signed up to the military to go to war.
"I cannot say it's great, because it's not. My country is suffering, people are dying there. There's not enough food, the shops are closed, the military is suffering. It's real war.
"I'm here. I try to be strong to support them as much as I can to show them we can do it. We can stand up and we can survive and we will not give up.
"My friends signed for the military. The dancers, I was with them in Ukraine Dancing with the Stars this summer. We were dancing, we were performing - and now they are actually with the guns, full of equipment, and they go for the war. I can't imagine."
Denys spoke about his mother and aunt, who are outside his home city of Odessa, Ukraine, and how they would need to pass through Kyiv to get to the border.
He said he is “really scared for their lives”.
"They are in the countryside about 30km from Odessa. They are sitting together only the two of them at home. They can hear everything.
"For now, it's really dangerous because they need to pass through Kyiv. I don't want this at the moment. I'm really scared for their life."
Denys said his mother wanted him to keep going on Dancing with the Stars and that she is proud of him.
"This makes her happy, it makes her proud of me and helps her to stay strong," he said.
The dancer continued: "All the people in Ukraine, they want peace. We're protecting ourselves, we don't want this war. I hope it will finish really soon."
Denys added that he feels "at home" in Ireland.
"You have a really great heart, and you're real. Outside of my country, of course I miss my home, but I feel very safe. This is the main thing."
Erica-Cody paid tribute to Samson on Sunday night's show, saying it has been an "extremely difficult" week for the Ukrainian dancer but that he has been "an absolute trooper".
She said: "Denys is from the Ukraine, so it's been extremely difficult for him this week with his friends and family back home.
"I just have to say, he's an absolute trooper. he showed up every single day, blood sweat and tears.
"It wasn't even an option for him to miss the show, I really take my hat off to him, he's incredible."
