You think that Russia's only way to move in a war is with nukes. But they still have a million reserve troops, all ready and waiting for Nato to make a wrong move.
Problem is those "troops" are only good at killing unarmed civilians. A++++ star grade for that. Top of excellence. The crème de la crème. Pride of Russia.
However, when challenged against a real army, with weapons, the wheels quickly fall off.
seems to disagree with you, as does the evidence of Russia voluntarily pulling Kiev and Kharkiv so that the civilians wouldn't be hurt.