[who_would_fardels_bear]

The Russians had many military operations on the Ukraine border, and everyone thought these were all just a bluff, but then...

[pierrem15]

I don't think Putin is refraining from using nukes because he's a nice guy, only because doing so would be so costly for Russia that there's no case that would justify it. If he uses them against Ukraine, NATO will intervene immediately. If he uses them against the US, Russia will be toast a half hour later. Ergo, they won't be used.

Only the Europeans thought it was a bluff, because the European political class believes in unicorns and successfully sells unicorn farts like "climate change" to their populations. When US intel saw all the Russian forces lined up for attack, stocked with ammo and medical supplies, etc., we knew an invasion was coming.