[BigJohn043]

What do y'all make of and think about Ukraine saying escalation that includes hitting cities inside Russia is inevitable?

Is it saber rattling? Is it part of the plan? Is the recent deluge of tanks and armored vehicles being sent to Ukraine by its allies, along with F-16s now being on the table, indicative of a secret plan to force regime change in Russia?  

I mean gaming this out, I would imagine the western ally countries would know not to do anything that would provoke Russia to use nuclear weapons.  We've heard Russia threaten use of them before while facing far less dire implications than all the armor and fighting vehicles being earmarked for Ukraine over last few weeks. And this is after Ukraine making some big territorial gains in last half of the year.

My assumption is the western allies have reliable intelligence that indicated Russia will not use nuclear weapons, so they feel emboldened to throw even more support to Ukraine that will piss Russia off like nothing else to this point. It makes no sense for Russia to wait until Ukraine is equipped with all this new firepower and using it on Russian forces before they do something to counteract it.  The only tool they have in their toolbox is nuclear weapons at this point. If they aren't gonna use them now, Russia has kind of already lost from a strategic standpoint, because Ukraine will be better supplied than Russia and will reclaim all its territory, at least on paper, with all these new support. If Ukraine also starts hitting at St. Petersburg and Moscow, while Russia loses Crimea and the east, Putin will be ousted for sure.

I just can't help but think the western allies have someone on the inside of the Russian military who has sold out Putin (maybe to be his successor), knows nukes won't be used by Russia, told the western allies, and this has paved the way for more bold aid to Ukraine. No wonder F-16s are now on the table. And I imagine a lot more is too. I just don't see the allied countries investing so much and being unwilling to do still more to ensure Ukraine ultimately prevails. The only question is how long will it take and what will be the cost. I'm hoping the western allies have set a budget and timetable for Ukraine to finish it.

I am not quite sure what you mean.  Ukraine has been hitting targets inside Russia for a while now.  I don't think they will hit purely civilian targets inside Russia because I don't think attacking purely civilian targets makes sense.  OTOH, are there going to be civilians impacted when they hit military targets?  I assume the answer is yes and that Ukraine won't avoid military targets with civilians around.

I am deeply skeptical that Russia uses nukes.  It makes all of the sense in the world to threaten it.  But using them would cause a massive backlash.

And you can't let Russia threaten anyone it wants just because they have nukes.  They invaded Ukraine.  They are holding Ukrainian territory.  They are the aggressor.

[BigJohn043]

What do y'all make of and think about Ukraine saying escalation that includes hitting cities inside Russia is inevitable?

Is it saber rattling? Is it part of the plan? Is the recent deluge of tanks and armored vehicles being sent to Ukraine by its allies, along with F-16s now being on the table, indicative of a secret plan to force regime change in Russia?  

I mean gaming this out, I would imagine the western ally countries would know not to do anything that would provoke Russia to use nuclear weapons.  We've heard Russia threaten use of them before while facing far less dire implications than all the armor and fighting vehicles being earmarked for Ukraine over last few weeks. And this is after Ukraine making some big territorial gains in last half of the year.

My assumption is the western allies have reliable intelligence that indicated Russia will not use nuclear weapons, so they feel emboldened to throw even more support to Ukraine that will piss Russia off like nothing else to this point. It makes no sense for Russia to wait until Ukraine is equipped with all this new firepower and using it on Russian forces before they do something to counteract it.  The only tool they have in their toolbox is nuclear weapons at this point. If they aren't gonna use them now, Russia has kind of already lost from a strategic standpoint, because Ukraine will be better supplied than Russia and will reclaim all its territory, at least on paper, with all these new support. If Ukraine also starts hitting at St. Petersburg and Moscow, while Russia loses Crimea and the east, Putin will be ousted for sure.

I just can't help but think the western allies have someone on the inside of the Russian military who has sold out Putin (maybe to be his successor), knows nukes won't be used by Russia, told the western allies, and this has paved the way for more bold aid to Ukraine. No wonder F-16s are now on the table. And I imagine a lot more is too. I just don't see the allied countries investing so much and being unwilling to do still more to ensure Ukraine ultimately prevails. The only question is how long will it take and what will be the cost. I'm hoping the western allies have set a budget and timetable for Ukraine to finish it.

I am not quite sure what you mean.  Ukraine has been hitting targets inside Russia for a while now.  I don't think they will hit purely civilian targets inside Russia because I don't think attacking purely civilian targets makes sense.  OTOH, are there going to be civilians impacted when they hit military targets?  I assume the answer is yes and that Ukraine won't avoid military targets with civilians around.

I am deeply skeptical that Russia uses nukes.  It makes all of the sense in the world to threaten it.  But using them would cause a massive backlash.

And you can't let Russia threaten anyone it wants just because they have nukes.  They invaded Ukraine.  They are holding Ukrainian territory.  They are the aggressor.