If Putin should use nukes they most likely would be low grade tactical artillery. And, these would only be practical against large military units. The Ukrainians don’t have many if any such units in the field. So, it appears to me that Putin is running a bluff, using scare tactics. Unless of course he really has become deranged as some are suggesting……🙄
We all have this image of a red button in the office of the Russian and U.S. leaders, but isn’t the actual protocol to launch through several fail-safe layers within the high command of the military? So if they refuse to fire, then what? I don’t think this nuclear threat from Putin is meant to apply to the Ukraine battlefield, it is meant to deter NATO countries from joining the conflict, and it has enough ambiguity to include strikes in NATO countries not near the borders for military purposes alone.
One detonation of one nuke in any NATO country, and we could presume that Russia would be subjected to a full barrage, so assuming they know that, they might figure no reason not to launch a massive strike. We have to hope Putin is not crazy and also that there are layers of command between his decision and the actual action.
What would be the purpose and target of tactical nukes? If he tried to use them on any city in NATO territory, wouldn’t a massitve retaliatory strike ensue? If he used a tactical nuke on a Ukrainian city, a retaliatory strike isn’t automatic but then he’s stuck mopping up a radioactive mess on land that he claims as his own. Putin is making noises suggesting the mad-man-I’m-taking-the-whole-down-with-me scenario. Which is scary as hell because I don’t think we can rule it out.
Wouldn’t it just be a LOT easier if Russia just joined NATO?
The psychological impact would be enormous, but it would be the reckless action of a madman. It would require instant retaliation in kind, and escalation at the speed of light is the likely result.