Russia says when Ukraine gets nuked, the war will end. Is Russia serious?
Yes. If Russia nukes Ukraine, the war in Ukraine will end. Within 24 hours if not sooner.

Nuclear weapons are an endgame weapon. Despite the development of smaller ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons, they remain exclusively a strategic weapon. They are a game-changer, a strategy-disruptor, and the ace you pray stays up your sleeve. Put it on the table, and it’s not about the game anymore, because the table is gonna get turned over. Once a nuke goes off, all bets are off because nobody would use one unless they were prepared to go all the way at that moment.

If Russia uses a nuke in Ukraine, there’s no telling what they would do, and no risking it either. Someone who would use nuclear weapons in a regional conflict, despite every military and political theory saying that it would be incredibly stupid, cannot be trusted to adhere to any rules of the world stage. It would be like a schizophrenic on meth who grabs a gun. Either they go down, or everyone goes down.

Despite the possibility of Russia nuking Ukraine being absurdly unlikely, the US has plans for how to deal with something like that. Russia knows the US (and Europe) have plans for that. Russia knows that those plans entail - what they must entail. Putin surely knows it. Russia can saber-rattle all they wants, though even that is a risky game. But if they ever put a nuke in Ukraine, then they’ve already written off Moscow, St. Petersburg, and any city or military installation that could possibly deploy or store a nuclear weapon. Which is why they won’t do it. Which is why if they do it, the war in Ukraine will end. Within 24 hours if not sooner.

Written by Ben M: B.S. in Civil Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Graduated 2000