Russia cannot defeat Ukraine; there is no way that they will attack NATO. This is just saber rattling for the domestic audience.
I won’t rule out Russia attacking the Baltics in particular. They seem to be talking themselves into it.
>>Russia cannot defeat Ukraine; there is no way that they will attack NATO.
Russia absolutely will attack Poland and Romania, if they win in Ukraine. Russia believes that given their demographic collapse, if they don’t secure their borders now, while they still have the manpower, Russia will cease to exist.
And they’re right.
Securing their borders requires troops in Poland and Romania. And that means an attack on NATO, and that means nukes.