The recent strikes on Kiyv make me believe that Russians still have a lot of ways to wage their war without using nuclear weapons. Truth is Russia could flatten Kiyv if it wanted too but I don't think Putin's goal is to win by killing as many civilians as possible.
As for Putin being cornered, I don't think it is true. Many countries keep doing business with Russia even though some of them might disagree with Putin's ways. At the end of the day, Russia has some valuable and much needed natural resources to sell.
The recent coup in Burkina Faso also makes me believe that Russian influence in the world is growing right now. Another reason to be skeptical about the end of Putin and the collapse of Russia.
Right now I think that those imagining some sort of nuclear war are out of touch with reality. The war will continue and, at some point, everyone will gather around a table and negotiate peace. The sooner, the better.
One thing is for sure, we need new international institutions with less power for the West and more power for the emerging world. If that doesn't happen we will have a third world war at some point and it will be nuclear. Then you'll have good reasons to worry ????
Just my two cents on this ????