MAD would mean no way out. I think the theory goes like this: Putin going down is a way out, and there are younger, hungrier deadly men in the military, and re

MAD would mean no way out. I think the theory goes like this: Putin going down is a way out, and there are younger, hungrier deadly men in the military, and really scary oligarchs and gangsters with the resources to give Putin a good fight. He can't unilaterally initiate nuclear conflict, because Russia put competent people and rules in place to avoid self-destruct failure modes. The idea is that the world makes it clear that the choices are massive conflict, up to and including nuclear, or taking Putin down. This puts Putin in the place between Russian rock and the nato hard place, giving him the option of backing down. If Putin just doesn't give a fuck anymore, if he is ill or just feeling like it's time to go out in a blaze of glory, we'll see what other actions the geniuses in power decide on.