Comment by trasz

There are two problems with your reasoning. First, you’re assuming Putin’s use of nukes would make him automatically win the war. That’s not how it works. Second, you’re ignoring other possibilities. For example, an interesting response to Russian attack would be an “unknown party” detonating a dirty bomb in one of Russian cities. It’s easy to do technically, wouldn’t result in large casualties, couldn’t be blamed on NATO, and would require absolutely enormous cleanup effort that would likely topple the regime.