Bono and The Edge perform U2 gig in Kyiv bomb shelter

The Irish rock band members performed a Ukraine-focused version of the Ben E King song ‘Stand by Me’

U2 band members Bono and the Edge have shown their support for Ukraine by performing in bomb shelter in Kyiv.

According to a post from the band’s official social media, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky invited the Irish rock singer and the lead guitarist to play in his embattled country.

At Khreshchatyk metro station, the duo performed for 40 minutes to a small crowd to show their “solidarity” to Ukraine while the country is being invaded by Russia.

About 100 people, including fans and members of Ukraine’s armed forces in their uniforms, were watching the performance at the station.

Bono and the Edge played an acoustic version of the 1987 U2 song ‘With Or Without You’ while the crowd sang along, videos posted to social media showed.

They also played a version of the Ben E King song ‘Stand By Me’ with Taras Topolia, a Ukrainian singer turned soldier, while substituting the word ‘me’ for ‘Ukraine’.

Between the songs, Bono offered words of support for Ukrainians. He said: “The people in Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you are fighting for all of us who love freedom.”

Speaking to Sky News in Kyiv, Bono appeared to reference Russian president Vladimir Putin when he said that the invasion of Ukraine was “one man’s war”, waged since 24 February.

He said: “I think that the people in Russia... younger people know what’s going on. I trust in the younger people in Russia to throw this man out of his office, that is so high and is so low, right now.”

Many underground stations in the capital have been used as bomb shelters while Putin’s forces have failed to capture the city.

At the end of March, Russia withdrew its forces from near the capital to concentrate its forces in the east of the country.

Follow live updates on the Ukraine-Russia conflict here.