June 29 (UPI) — The Irish band U2 has started selling merchandise featuring a portrait of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky drawn by frontman Bono to raise funds to buy ambulances for the war-torn nation.
The merchandise, listed on the band’s website, includes silkscreen-printed posters, T-shirts and hoodies with Zelensky’s face in blue on a yellow background, representing the colors of Ukraine.
Each item also bears the text, “The choice is between freedom and fear,” a quote from Zelensky.
The posters are a limited edition of 250 numbered prints on high-end paper with A2 dimensions.
“UNITED24, UKRAINE’S OFFICIAL FUNDRAISING PLATFORM, ANNOUNCES LIMITED EDITION MERCH COLLABORATION WITH BONO FROM U2,” the website reads.
“NET PROFITS WILL GO TO UNITED24 FOR THE PURCHASE OF AMBULANCES IN UKRAINE.”
Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, U2’s Bono and The Edge performed a surprise acoustic concert in Kyiv at Zelensky’s invitation.
The artists, who have together won 22 Grammy Awards as members of U2, performed for 40 minutes in a makeshift bomb shelter in the Khreshchatyk train station to a crowd of about 100 people as air raid sirens could be heard in the background.
“Collaboration between UNITED24 and U2 began on Kyiv Day, when Bono read lines from the Ukrainian capital’s anthem,” UNITED24 coordinator Yaroslava Gres told Far Out Magazine.
“We are very happy about this new joint project, as it will help raise funds to support heroic Ukrainian medical workers.”
Bono, speaking of his artwork, told Far Out that the practice of drawing “is an excuse to stare at someone whose face or life I might be fascinated with.”
“My drawings are not cartoons, but they are often caricatures of character,” Bono said.
“In the case of President Volodymyr Zelensky, we have burdened him with impossible expectations — and impossibly, he has not let us down.”
