On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Irish rock band U2 released a music video for the track Yours Eternally featuring Ed Sheeran and Taras Topolia, frontman of the Ukrainian band Antytila. The video was created by servicemen of the 13th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine “Khartia” and consists of footage of the unit’s real combat work in the Kharkiv region.
Yours Eternally is a new track by U2 featuring Ed Sheeran and Taras Topolia from the EP Days Of Ash. The song takes the form of a letter from the front and contains a direct call for freedom, as well as lines referring to the realities of war.
The video is built from footage of combat operations by the “Khartia” brigade on the Lypetske and Kupiansk directions, including an episode showing the wounding and evacuation of one of the officers. It also features training sessions, everyday life and leisure of the fighters, as well as several well-known panoramas of Kharkiv, including a view of Derzhprom.
The video was directed by Ukrainian filmmaker and serviceman of the “Khartia” corps Illia Mykhailus. According to the brigade, part of the material had already been filmed earlier, while the rest was shot in December; the video shows real combat work of the unit, which has been defending the Kharkiv region since the beginning of the full-scale war.
U2 and Ed Sheeran have consistently supported Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war. In May 2022, Bono and The Edge performed in the Kyiv metro and visited Bucha; in 2023, U2 released a new version of their old hit Walk On, adding the word Ukraine to the title and references to the war in the lyrics. The same year, Bono created a print for a limited-edition merchandise collection, with proceeds used to purchase ambulances for Ukraine. In 2024, during a concert in Las Vegas, the U2 frontman delivered a speech in support of Ukraine and called on U.S. authorities not to stop assistance to the country. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded Bono and The Edge the Order of Merit, III class.
In April 2022, Ed Sheeran released the video for the song 2Step, filmed in Kyiv before the start of the full-scale war, described Ukraine as a “proud and resilient country,” and pledged to donate his YouTube royalties from the video to the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to support Ukraine.
“Khartia” was formed at the beginning of the full-scale war in 2022 as a volunteer formation within the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 2023, it became the 13th Operational Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, and since May 2024 it has been defending Kharkiv and northern parts of the Kharkiv region.
On April 15, 2025, two corps were created within the National Guard of Ukraine, including the 2nd Corps “Khartia,” formed on the basis of the 13th Brigade “Khartia.” It was headed by Colonel Ihor Obolenskyi. From September to December 2025, the search-and-strike group of the 2nd Corps conducted a counteroffensive operation on the Kupiansk direction, liberating a number of villages and blocking occupying forces in the city; the operation to clear Kupiansk is ongoing.