What would happen if Russia used a nuclear weapon in Ukraine?
ABCIt was meant to be a swift so-called special military operation — Russian troops were to roll into Kyiv and Ukraine's government were to capitulate. "You'd actually have to blanket vast areas of Ukraine with nuclear weapons if you really wanted to stop the Ukrainian army," Professor Fruehling said. Last week, former CIA director and retired army general David Petraeus said the US and its allies would destroy Russia's troops and equipment in Ukraine and sink its Black Sea fleet if Mr Putin used nuclear weapons in the conflict. Professor Fruehling said the idea that Russia could use a nuclear weapon against a non-nuclear country — given that Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees from the US, Britain, France and Russia — would set a "horrible precedent". "There are some signals that the Americans have threatened Russia that if they use a nuclear weapon, the US would enter the conflict directly and attack Russian forces in Ukraine and I think that that's the most likely scenario," Professor Fruehling said.