Recommendations from the Kyiv Independent: Songs written, performed in support of Ukraine's Armed Forces' brigades (Patreon)

Hello, I'm Yuliia Taradiuk, reporter at the war desk of the Kyiv Independent. Today, I'm excited to share my first recommendation with you!

Given that I usually write stories about the Russian occupation, Ukrainian soldiers, and Russia's air attacks on Ukraine, I couldn't help but recommend war-related content.

But I've got something truly special for you – songs written and/or performed by Ukrainian artists to support different brigades of Ukraine's Armed Forces.

3rd Assault Brigade

Let's start with a legendary album called "Epoch" (2024). It was composed by numerous young and popular Ukrainian artists in collaboration with Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade.

The brigade is actively present in Ukraine's media landscape and is known for its creative recruiting and PR campaigns. But the "Epoch" album is not just a pure PR. It is a reflection of the times in which Ukrainians are forced to live.

Eight artists "donated" their masterful songs to a greater mission. Moreover, the pool of artists was chosen by the brigade's fighters, so it's no surprise that all of them are young, aspiring artists or bands.

Some of the artists featured on the album later also joined Ukraine's Armed Forces, such as Dmytro Odnorozhenko, 26, the frontman of the punk rock band "hatespeech" (хейтспіч in Ukrainian), who is now a drone operator with one of Ukraine's brigades.

My favorite among all of them is the song "Sword of Damocles" by renie cares, a Ukrainian indie pop band. Just watch their impressive, cinematic music video, showing how the frontwoman, Iryna Panchuk, emerges from her home surroundings into a liminal space, dressed in armor and facing swords of Damocles, which portend constant danger.

Iryna sings, "My youth, not lived to the fullest," and "No Carpe Diem." My interpretation of the lyrics is that Ukrainian youth have no confidence in their future. All they have is the Sword of Damocles – the constant threat from Russia – hanging over their heads.

Ukraine's Special Operations Forces

Here, I want to recommend a song that was not written specifically for any particular brigade, but whose performer is currently actively working with Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SOF) Resistance movement.

The movement is aimed at opposing Russian occupation using various methods, both violent and non-violent. You can watch my interview with the movement's head here.

To promote the resistance movement among Ukrainians, the group founded the artistic project Totalny, which involves Ukrainian artists in popularizing it. In this project, they organized live concerts where performers sang and showed solidarity with Ukrainians under occupation, encouraging the ongoing resistance.

Artistka Chupryneko is my favorite among the artists supporting SOF, but all of them with checking of course. For Chupryneko, resistance in occupation is not just a word; it's very personal as she comes from the part of Kherson Oblast that is now occupied by Russia, and where her mother still lives.

Artistka Chupryneko captured my heart as I have never heard anything more touching. Unfortunately, her lyrics are only in Ukrainian, but trust me, they are incredible. I recommend the song "Rain." Warning: I cry every time I listen to it.

"Perhaps this rain will not end

But we have to stop it."

Check out either the live performance at the concert for SOF's Resistance movement or their very cinematic music video, which looks like a short road movie (while watching, try to remember her home, now occupied by Russia).

"One says everything begins somewhere, somehow,And every flower has roots in the ground below.But I know I'm the steppe grass, silver, and free —Which rolls through the fields like a cloud on the sea.

No house can ever make it stay,It only waits for a windy day.We are so different, it and I —Though you'd never tell by a passing eye."

If you liked her artwork, I also recommend watching a music video featuring footage from her now-occupied home, filmed before the occupation in 2018-2021.

Khartiia

The last song for today is quite new, as it was released in January 2026. The song "Night" (Nich) is a collaboration between the famous Ukrainian singer Tina Karol and the rock band "Zhadan and Sobaky," founded by Ukraine's most popular poet, Serhiy Zhadan, who is now also a serviceman. 

The song is dedicated to the Khartiia Brigade, the families of the defenders, Kharkiv residents, and the city itself, which lies just about 30 kilometers (nearly 20 miles) from the Russian border and faces continuous Russian air attacks.

The Khartiia Brigade was formed at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a response to the need to protect the northeastern city of Ukraine from Russian capture. In 2023, the brigade was officially established from a volunteer unit.

The song is quite energetic, a little sad and romantic, but inspiring, and conveys a sense of hope, I would say. I especially appreciated the music video, which was shot in the Kharkiv metro, which is also used as a shelter for civilians during Russian attacks.

"This song is about trust and support, about people who stick together, sharing strength and light. The night in this story is deep, but not endless. It is inevitably interrupted by someone's tenderness and sound," Serhiy Zhadan said.

I hope you've enjoyed listening to these songs and watching the videos! And remember, after night and darkness, light will surely prevail — at least we, Ukrainians, hold onto that hope.