Yes, they are. None of us believe they would do it, but they could kill tens of millions of Americans and we could do the same to them. What Russia lacks is major military capability short of a nuclear attack.
Can they?
Russia has not conducted a nuclear weapons test since 1990 when they were the Soviet Union. Much has changed since then.
There has been a 2nd 'freeing of the serfs'. Nuclear Weapon and missile techs don't have to settle for a shabby apartment and access to the state store and have moved on.
For example, a thermonuclear weapon requires tritium, a rare isotope of hydrogen that is extremely rare in nature and requires manufacture in a reactor to boost the fission stage.
Tritium has a half life of 12 years and decays to lithium which absorbs electrons and causes your nuke to fizzle. So every few years you have to replace your tritium.
Do the Russians still have techs they can trust to do that? For thousands of weapons?
Or have they been bluffing for years now?
Trump and Mattis have known what they were doing everytime before...
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“What Russia lacks is major military capability short of a nuclear attack. “
You nailed it. This reminds me of an elderly man with a 38 snub in his pocket. He has no options to run or fight, but he might use the only tool he has if it is a matter of survival in his mind.