U2 continue to solidarize with Ukraine.
Today, February 24, 2025, the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine marks the third time. On the occasion of this sad day, Bono and The Edge von U2 shared a message and a piano piece to express their support for Ukraine and President Wolodymyr Selenskyj.
In an Instagram post it says: “Edge and I sent the above-mentioned reading and piano piece to President Selenskyj (whom we met before he was president) in the days after the invasion of Russia to Ukraine. The poem comes from Tara’s Schewchenko, the great poet from the 19th century, who defined “the Ukrainian” for so many. ” Now they shared the recording with the public.
Anyone who believes in freedom and feel the danger in which we Europeans are now are not easy to sleep on this third anniversary of the invasion.
“My friendly letter” by Taras Schewtschenko
U2 also shared the following words of the poet Taras Schewtschenko – the “father of the nation”, as it is also called by Ukrainians:
“To the dead, the living and the still unborn, my compatriots, everyone who lives in Ukraine and outside of Ukraine when a man says: I love God and hate his brother, he is a liar, 1 Johannes IV. 20 Tays dawn, then the twilight comes gray, the border of the living day; Because tired people seem best and all creatures of God rest. Only I mourn like a cursed, through all the last and first hours, sad at the intersection, day and night, without anyone being there who sees my need;
Nobody can see me, nobody knows me; All people are deaf, no ears reveal me; Men stand and act their common chains and exchange the truth for dirty profits, shame against the Lord by rewarding people in yoke and sowing evils in fields that were commissioned by the devil … And what will sprout? Soon you will see what a harvest will be! Come to reflect, you unscrupulous, your stupid children, dummies sons! And bring this peaceful paradise, your own Ukraine, in front of your eyes;
Then leave your heart, in sincere love, hug your mighty ruin here! Then collapse your chains, clubs, still looking for the sight of things that are not even found in the foreign country, even less in countries that love strangers … Then you will see true justice, strength and freedom in your own house! Then you will see true justice, strength and freedom in your own house!
Selenskyj offers resignation – but calls for admission to NATO
Meanwhile, heads of state and government with Selenskyj are in discussions about a possible solution to the conflict. The Ukrainian president recently signaled that he was ready to put his office down if his country could join NATO in return. His statement took place shortly after the largest drone attack in the war, in which, according to Ukrainian information, 267 drones attacked the country.
US President Donald Trump had described Selenskyj as a “dictator without elections” last week. A lie, because in 2019 Selenskyj was democratically chosen, and according to the Ukrainian law, elections are suspended under the applicable war law.
U2 are committed to Ukraine
In an essay for “The Atlantic” Bono wrote about the concept of freedom in January 2025 and emphasized that music was always a medium of liberation. “Rock’n’roll promised a freedom that could not be silenced – an international language of liberation.” In 2022, U2 played a concert in the subway station in Kiev to support the population in their own way.