Throwing nukes at Ukraine is not going to happen. First, it will likely force the west into action (the current inaction is in part caused by the promise of no

Throwing nukes at Ukraine is not going to happen. First, it will likely force the west into action (the current inaction is in part caused by the promise of no nukes, which would be void if Russia starts using them), but it comes with much larger problems. For one, the key locations in Ukraine are quite close to the Russian border and Kyiv and Moscow itself are only about 750km apart; the fallout would directly affect Russia and maybe even Moscow. Secondly, Ukraine is rather useless to Russia as a nuclear wasteland. They need the strategic position, yes, but that's quite useless if you can't keep troops there, and they also need the people and the infrastructure. That they currently keep civilian infrastructure mostly intact shows as much. I'm pretty sure their endgame is to fend of Russia long enough until it ceases military action, possibly with loosing some border territory. Due to cost, sanctions and internal resistance, it's quite likely that they won't fight this forever.