The legendary band U2 and the singer Ed Sheeran released a song and a video dedicated to the four years of war in Ukraine, involving in the project even Ukrainian soldiers active on the front.
To mark the fourth anniversary of the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, U2 have released the video for the song Yours Eternally. The song is made with the participation of Ed Sheeran and the lead singer of the Ukrainian band Antytila, Taras Topolia.
The video was created by soldiers of the 13th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine “Hartiia” and is based on real footage from missions carried out in the Kharkiv region. The song is part of the Days Of Ash mini-album.
“A letter from the front,” said through the music
The composition is constructed as a letter sent from the front and contains direct references to war and the idea of freedom. The footage in the video is documentary and captures scenes from the Kupiansk direction, including moments of an officer’s injury and evacuation, training, daily life of soldiers and brief moments of rest.
Famous areas of the city of Kharkiv, including the Derjprom building, also appear in the frame. The direction of the project is signed by the Ukrainian filmmaker Ilia Mihailius, who is also a soldier in the “Paper” corps. The representatives of the brigade specified that some of the images were filmed previously, and additional scenes were made in December. “The clip shows the real combat work of the military defending the Kharkiv region since the first days of the invasion“, pointed out the authors of the project.
The message sent by U2 in the opening of the project emphasizes the context of the war and the role of the Ukrainian soldiers: “For four years, Ukraine has been resisting Russia’s full-scale invasion. Paper Corps soldiers are among the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who conduct military operations daily to defend their country against the invading Russian military.”
Constant support for Ukraine
U2 and Ed Sheeran have publicly expressed their support for Ukraine since the start of the war. In 2022, Bono and The Edge performed a concert in the Kyiv metro and visited the town of Bucea. Later, U2 released an updated version of the song Walk On, with references to Ukraine.
In 2024, during a concert in Las Vegas, Bono called on the United States to continue its support for Kiev. President Volodymyr Zelensky decorated Bono and The Edge with the Order of Merit, 3rd class.
For his part, Ed Sheeran donated to humanitarian aid in Ukraine the income obtained from the video of the song 2Step, filmed in Kiev before the start of the invasion.
