[hollerith]

Has the US or NATO even threatened to go to war if Russia starts using tacnukes in Ukraine? I haven't seen any reports to suggest so, and I've been following the news on this war closely.

(The US has threatened more sanctions if Russia uses WMDs. That threat was in response to signs Russia was getting ready to use chemical weapons.)

[mattm]

Nuclear or chemical fallout that drifts into NATO countries could potentially warrant a response.

Here's one such article from a few weeks ago. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/03/23/if-russia-use...

Of course, we won't know for sure unless it happens (and let's hope it doesn't).

[hollerith]

OK, but even when detonated high enough above the ground that no appreciable fallout is produced, nukes are quite destructive. In fact, for many kinds of targets, cities being one, the altitude that maximizes destruction is high enough.