To worry about Putin

[TarasHarp55]

Im so worried that he might just lash out in Ukraine with a nuclear weapon. Then that would be ww3. I wasn't even thinking on those lines because I don't watch the news but I heard my dh and sil discussing the possibility. I wish I hadn't heard them tbh. Now I'm worried sick. Can anyone give any reassurance? Sorry to sound so weak.

Pretty much this

If psycho putin did decide to launch, he'll probably find that someone's sold the key

Putin can't just " push a button ".

There will be a long chain of commmand of peope involved to get to the guy who " pushes the button ", and I dare say a lot of them are intelligent thoughtful professional military people with a great deal of intelligence and morals, with their own families and their own minds. I doubt there could be blind obedient loyaltly to an order which would amount to an act of totally unprovokeed mass murder with no clear military objective other than to satisfy the demands of an out of conrrol ego. It won't happen.

Thank you to everyone who's reassured me. It really does help a lot with my anxiety.

OP my info comes from my DH. He is a professor of nuclear chemistry and has been interviewed many times by media outlets all over the world on this. If you're in the UK then he's very clear that you have nothing to worry about personally even if Putin does something really stupid in Ukraine.

He's been humiliated by the war.
He threatened nuclear war if anyone intervened, the world has intervened massively by supplying weapons and heavy sanctions.

He would have pushed the button by now if he could.

Thank you FatherBuzz - that’s very interesting.

Modern tactical nuclear warheads have yields up to the tens of kilotons, or potentially hundreds, several times that of the weapons used in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
(i'm well aware of what a tactical weapon is - from your link)

The use of depleted shells etc isn't what people are concerned about.

But if you think a missile with a similar or even bigger payload to WW2 bombs used on japan is not of concern and we'll all be ok, thats up to you.

You're scaring people with misinformation. Nuclear weapon yields are NOT linear. A bomb 100 times bigger than Hiroshima does NOT do 100 times as much damage.

What can a GP do?
” Now then, Putin, wind your neck in, there’s good chap”
It is understandable that people are worried about escalation, but @@TarasHarp55 we are powerless against stuff like this, unfortunately.
The World has seen Nuclear threats before and come through OK.
We just have to hope it won’t come to that.

Hi, is your DH a specialist in nuclear bombs etc?

Em... just read the full thread, and he actually IS!!!!

The biggest reason Russia is very unlikely to use chemical and nuclear weapons is the distinct possibility of mass Russian casualties as a result, they are impossible to contain and Russia couldn't guarantee or control the fall out reaching Russia, certainly it is likely to affect their troops on the ground and towns and cities on the borders. The contamination would last for years. Even Russia as angry and furious as they might be with how this war has panned out for them would know that this would indeed be the last straw on the international stage and even China, India etc would unite in condemnation. As it is Russia's global standing is hovering around the same status as Iran. If it were to unleash deadly weapons on Ukraine it would become a total basket case along the lines of North Korea, and treated as such.

At some point Russia will need an exit plan, at some point it will need to reengage with the rest of the world. Already this is defining Russia's future for the next generation and beyond, but to 'go there' with nuclear tactical weapons and knowing what the international response would be - it would be utter madness.

Given the state of Russian technical capabilities I guess it is also entirely possible that their nuclear weapons are defunct and rusted up anyway. It is shocking to see their troops use old 20th century weapons, clapped out tanks and not even basic provision to fight. It does not feel one with confidence.
If the efforts so far are a reflection of their nuclear ability I wouldn't be too concerned.