Ukraine receives support from Las Vegas

The country has a loyal supporter in the American band Imagine Dragons. For years, they have been mentioning the country at concerts, displaying the flag, and giving speeches to encourage its citizens. The musicians even made a video to draw attention to the situation in Ukraine.

"Thunder, feel the thunder, boom boom boom, lightning and the thunder." With these few words, most people know which band we're talking about. Imagine Dragons are famous for extremely successful songs such as Radioactive, Believer, Enemy, and Thunder. Less well known is their commitment to Ukraine.

Singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, and bassist Ben McKee have been in the music business since 2008. During this time, they have supported several charity projects and even founded their own organization (the Tyler Robinson Foundation). They gave their first concert in Kiev in 2018 and actually wanted to return four years later. Unfortunately, this did not happen.

First charity concert—then ambassador

In March 2022, they were asked to participate in a charity concert for the country. They took a virtual stand for Ukraine at the "Save the Ukraine – Stop War"event. The benefit concert was broadcast in over 20 countries. In addition to Imagine Dragons, stars such as Fatboy Slim, Sting, and Bastille also took part. A few months later, the band expanded its support even further.

On July 23, 2022, the musicians from Las Vegas became ambassadors for UNITED24, the official aid organization of President Zelensky's country. Together with Ukraine's First Lady, Olena Zelenska, they worked to purchase fully equipped ambulances. Each ambulance costs just under €95,000.

The band has made a clear statement about the war on social media. "Our thoughts are with Ukraine and all others suffering from this needless war." They are following up their words with actions by canceling their already planned concerts on the Mercury Tour in Russia. In addition, they have withdrawn their albums from the Russian market.

Zelensky has a request

During aZOOM video chat with President Volodymyr Zelensky at the end of July 2022, the band discussed with him the best possible way to support the country. Zelensky asked them to mention Ukraine at their concerts in order to raise awareness.

That's why artists from Nevada began dedicating the song "Forever Young" (originally by Alphaville) to Ukraine. In addition, they repeatedly displayed the yellow and blue flag and helped to generate donations for humanitarian and medical aid with these actions. In 2022 alone, more than six million US dollars were raised for the purchase of ambulances. To date, more than 90 ambulances have been purchased.

The band does more than just fly the flag

UNITED24 and the band implemented a somewhat unusual measure in 2023. The musicians recorded an announcement for the SkyUp aircraft fleet(which also acts as a UNITED24 ambassador). Passengers on a total of 43 flights across Europe, Asia, and Africa heard this request for support for the Ukrainian people.

In addition, events such as the auction of a signed guitar and the sale of special concert tickets were held to help Zelenksy's organization.

"Crushed" depicts a village after a long occupation

In 2023, the band released the released the music video for the song "Crushed." . It tells the story of 14-year-old Sasha and his mother. The two endured five months of Russian occupation and witnessed the death of their neighbors. A few months later, the band invited Sasha to a concert in Warsaw to meet the boy in person. The music video features only Sasha and his mother; the musicians themselves do not appear. The video was nominated by the MTV Video Music Awards in the "Video for a Good Cause" category.

About a year after filming, the director of the video, Ty Arnold, returned to the village of Novohryhorivka. This time, it was for a joyful occasion: the small family was celebrating moving into their newly rebuilt home. This had been made possible by the public attention generated by the music video and the collaboration with the Aurora retail chain.

There is also criticism at concerts

Imagine Dragons also tried to draw more attention to Ukraine on their latest tour with yellow and blue confetti and other measures.

However, there was also criticism of the band's gestures. Ukrainian fans criticized the wording on a poster that the musicians had received from the audience and held up. "Stop the war" was written on it. However, many visitors felt that this was not clear enough. They would have preferred "Stop Russia" or "Destroy Putin." Despite this criticism, fans on social media were largely positive about the band's commitment.

But the support doesn't end with concerts. Back in 2020, brothers Dan and Mac Reynolds launched their own video game studio. Their first game, "Last Flag," will be released in April 2026. It was developed in collaboration with a Ukrainian development company. There's also a little Easter egg: one of the characters (Parker Spencer) has the country's flag on his lapel.

To United24:

The initiative to support Ukraine was launched on May 5, 2022. Its motto is "To unite the world around Ukraine's supporters to protect, save, and rebuild."

Since its inception, the official donation platform has raised more than $3,500,000,000 in donations as of March 1, 2026. Donors can decide which category their donation should be used for: defense, humanitarian purposes, medical care, reconstruction, or education and science.