cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
I think I see the rub. I wasn’t specific enough; I was thinking of a massive conventional response, with interdiction of Russian air and sea assets probably high on the list. Having Western strategic bombers boldly overflying Russian territory for all to seeI do not think that the West will drop a barrage of nukes for the use of one tactical nuke. That would be irrisposible and may set off events none of us want. I think they might use other means or just toss one to show they mean business. Maybe an out of the way bridge east of Crimea?
might just have a salutary effect on Russian behavior at the diplomats’ table.
That is for the use of one or two battlefield nukes. There doubtless comes a point where, if Russia used a lot of kilotons, Nato response would be in kind.
But as an amateur, my “armchair field marshal” opinion on this, and where the boundary might be, is likely worth about what you paid for it.
As for the bridge —
I think the most elegant solution would not be to drop it, but to take it whole. Let’s imagine Ukraine maintains the current momentum and succeeds in taking it all back.
I speculate that Ukraine could make a case in the UN for occupying a few dozen square km of territory on the eastern end of Putin’s Folly in Krasnodar oblast, as a security zone against a proven aggressor. It appeals to my sense of enlightened Schadenfreude.