Dancing With The Stars pro Denys Samson 'really scared' for family in Ukraine

The dancer, who is originally from Odessa in Ukraine, has been competing on the latest series of the RTÉ competition show with his celebrity partner Erica Cody.

The 32-year-old has admitted that while he’s safe from Russian forces as he's living in Ireland, he’s worried for his loved ones who are still in Ukraine.

“My country is suffering. People are dying,” he told Jennifer Zamparelli on her RTÉ 2fm show.

“There’s not enough food, the shops are closed. The military is suffering from the guns and bullets. It’s a real war. It’s reality.

“All the people in Ukraine want peace. We’re protecting ourselves. We don’t want this war. I hope it will [be over] really soon.

“My friends signed for the military. The dancers - I was with them in Ukraine on 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 it.

“I'm here, I try to be strong to support them as much as I can to show them, actually we can do it, we can stand up and we can survive and we won’t give up.”

He added that he’s “really scared” for his mum and aunt, who are living just outside Odessa but can’t flee the country.

“They’re alive. [I can’t say] they’re doing good or they’re happy,” he said.

“They’re in the countryside about 30km from Odessa but there’s another port city like 10 minutes away from their house. [Russians] attacked two ports to take them over.

“So, they’re sitting together only the two of them at home. They can hear everything that’s happening over there. The windows are shaking from the bombs.

“If they want to cross the border, it’s really dangerous because they need to cross to pass Kyiv, they need to cross the whole country to get there. I don’t want this at the moment.

“I'm really scared for their life,” he added.