Russia has practiced delivering a retaliatory nuclear strike

[RussianTroll]

I was just thinking of those cold and lonely soldiers, manning their missile posts, wondering if its all for nothing. Yearning for some use, some purpose. It must be hard. Really hard.

I imagine they see these exercises as fun.

...

Yes I'm familiar with that policy change; I read Putin's speech and the Q&A session at the BRICS conference the other week. And certainly it is interesting to see the difference in the UK and USA response. But I'm wondering what it really changes. I can't imagine a scenarios where anyone says "gee we were going to launch a retaliatory strike, but since they acted in accord with russian law and stated policy, i guess we have to let it slide".

We get it; Putin's staunch.

Well, I am not Putin, and I am not the Russian Security Council. I do not know. But such a possibility exists, and it is real, very real.