Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

2026

Keywords

collaboration, resistance, reintegration, Ukraine, ethnicity, national identity

Abstract

Interstate wars can rally societies around the flag, but they can also divide them based on individuals’ behavior and identities. Building on fieldwork in wartime Ukraine, we study the importance of collaboration and resistance, ethnic identity, and the interaction between behavior and identity. We examine how such divisions affect Ukrainians’ attitudes toward each other with two conjoint experiments (N=2,513). When choosing among potential neighbors, respondents prefer individuals who resisted over collaborators. However, two identity attributes—ethnic descent and exposure to Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory—activate biases that behavior alone does not fully overcome. Furthermore, we find that respondents value resistance less if enacted by ethnic Russians than by Ukrainians. We then evaluate potential mechanisms for social redemption, finding that public apologies increase acceptance of former collaborators, but prison sentences do not. Our findings highlight the persistent challenges that ethnic bias presents for social cohesion in divided societies during war.

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Library of Congress Subject Headings

War and society--Ukraine, Social interaction, Ethnicity, Nationalism, Collaborationists--Public opinion

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