The question is: if putin orders the use of nuclear weapons will the generals do it? putin is in a unique position in all this as it is his nuts on the line. The generals can get off the hook for just following military orders. Obeying an order to use nukes? I suspect the generals can see they are losing, and this will lead to a bigger loss.
Sure, but it depends on how "devoted" they are. I mean if Hitler had gotten them I think he would have used them.
As it is now, Ukraine is not going to negotiate with him about peace, for good reason. Nothing that comes out of that man's mouth can be trusted. So Ukraine are going to keep fighting with help from the west. As it is now, we are not stopping with giving them weapons and Russia seems to be in a fairly poor state when it comes to its military.
Given that he has been forced to draft 300000 and they are fleeing the country, there is a good chance that these people are getting sent there as nothing but cannon fodder, to be honest.
I highly doubt that they will get any decent training and I also doubt that their morale is especially high. Especially because I don't think half of them even know why they are invading Ukraine or even whether they truly believe what Putin is telling them. He can't hide the truth forever. So my thought is that he will get desperate at some point, as things start to go downhill even more.
And Putin needs to win this, he can't lose to Ukraine at this time, that is simply not an option, because the Russian people would lynch him in that case. He needs to keep the illusion alive that he is the "good" guy. But again, he can't do that forever, at some point the Russian people will wake up and figure out that they have been told a lie. And I doubt the Russian people are any more interested in getting shot and blown up for no good reason, just as anyone else is. The big question is how much time it will take for the Russians to add two and two together and take responsibility for what this maniac is doing, he is single-handedly destroying or bringing Russia back into the dark ages.
Putin and those people in charge might be so devoted to whatever nonsense they are doing, that they might be willing to go all the way.