But that's just it, it's not a handful that's needed.
Yeah I know, a single nuke in Manhattan would be devastating. One for every major city would be as well. But that's not really how the doctrine works. It takes hundreds, thousands really for the strategy to work *if* you plan to be the first one to launch. A couple dozen would hurt us, but the follow on devastation from our arsenal, very much functional, would end Russia as a global entity.
Using a nuke is end game for Putin, and I don't think he's willing to lose everything over Ukraine. Unless he's terminally ill, who knows?
This isn't just about us. Europe is experiencing some pretty amazing introspection over their blind eye towards Russia over the years. They are going through way more pain than we are, willing, to hurt Russia. Humans aren't economic entities, they have pride and shame, and I think both are at play here.
Either way, the rules of the past 40 years, economically, military, geopolitically, don't apply anymore.