Doestheintensityofasocialconflictaffectpoliticaldivision?Traditionally,socialcleavagesareseenastheunderlyingcauseofpoliticalconflicts.Itisclear,however,thataviolentcon-flictitselfcanshapepartisan,social,andnationalidentities.Inthispaper,weaskwhethersocialconflictsuniteordividethesocietybystudyingtheeffectsofUkraine’smilitarycon-flictwithRussiaononlinesocialtiesbetweenUkrainianprovinces(oblasts).Inordertodothat,wecollectedoriginaldataonthecross-regionalstructureofpoliticallyrelevantonlinecommunicationamongusersofVKontaktesocialnetworkingsite.Weanalyzethepanelofprovincesspanningthemostactivephasesofdomesticprotestsandmilitaryconflictandiso-latetheeffectsofprovince-specificwarcasualtiesonthenatureofinter-provincialonlinecommunication.Theresultsshowthatwarcasualtiesenticestrongemotionalresponseinthecorrespondingprovinces,butdonotnecessarilyincreasethelevelofsocialcohesionininter-provincialonlinecommunication.Wefindthattheintensityofmilitaryconflictenticesonlineactivism,butactivatesregionalratherthannation-widenetworkconnections.WealsofindthatmilitaryconflicttendstopolarizesomeregionsofUkraine,especiallyintheEast.Ourre-searchbringsattentiontotheunderexploredareasinthestudyofcivilconflictandpoliticalidentitiesbydocumentingthewaystheformermayaffectthelatter.JournalofComparativeEconomics44(1)(2016)163–181.DepartmentofInternationalRelations,LehighUniversity,UnitedStates;DepartmentofIndustrialandSystemsEngineering,UniversityatBuffalo,SUNY,UnitedStates;LehighUniversity,UnitedStates;DepartmentofComputerScienceandInfor-mationSystems,TheUniversityofJyvaskyla,Finland.