Nuclear weapons have not been used since 1945. Using any nuclear weapon no matter its yield would violate the so-called nuclear taboo. Ukraine voluntarily denuclearized after the breakup of the Soviet Union. The goal would be to leave the onus of having violated the nuclear taboo on Putin and ostracize him for that, he says.
Vladimir Putin keeps threatening to use smaller nuclear weapons to win his war. Author J. Peter Scoblic says “there’s no such thing as small nukes.”
This episode was produced by Miles Bryan and Amanda Lewellyn, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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