Setting __webpack_public_path__ does not reflect while importing images

Hello,

In my entry(main.js) file I have set __webpack_public_path__ at the first line as below

__webpack_public_path__ = 'http://some.cdn.com/some'

but while import images it just return the name

import SomeFriend from '../../images/some-friend';
(the above import is done in b.js which will be imported in main.js)

I even tried it setting next to the import

__webpack_public_path__ = 'http://some.cdn.com/some'
import SomeFriend from '../../images/some-friend';

when I do console.log(SomeFriend) it returns the file name as some-friend.jpg

Need experts advice. How to set __webpack_public_path__ so that all my image will be loaded from the give location.

Thanks & Regards
Adi