3 ms·

Shouldn't nuclear weapons enter the calculation somewhere?

• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
• ineedasername 5y ago
  Maybe it's wishful thinking, but that seems unlikely. A tactical nuke to level a city would best be deployed to reduce morale, induce terror to get major concessions at the negotiating table. (It couldn't really be used to reduce Ukraine military, they aren't concentrated enough for that. But a tactic like this could make Ukrainians even angrier, not demoralized. Could go either way. Regardless, any nuclear launch would have the effect of galvanizing support far beyond the current level. It would probably also strip them of Chinese support because extreme sanctions would fall on anyone providing the least bit of support to Russia, and a massive economic blow to China hurts them more than it would hurt most other countries (though it would still hurt). If course the above is predicated upon a rational weighing of consequences, and I shouldn't assume rationality by Putin. But enough people in power may still be rational enough to stage a coup if he truly approaches nuclear war. Or so I hope. A few months from now I might remember this comment and how naive it was.
  • djhn 5y ago
    While definitions can be fuzzy, in Russian doctrine a "tactical nuke" would refer to something you fire "in battle", from artillery range, and does not carry enough payload to level a city. It also makes sense on the abstract level. Leveling a city is not a tactic, it is a strategy-level move.