> a likelier option would be a small tactical nuclear strike
This would be an utterly insane thing to do, not because it would escalate to full nuclear war, but because it would turn almost the entire world (including the likes of China and India) against Russia. It is not by any stretch a "likely" option.
Tactical nukes aren't as useful as people thing they are, letting off one would barely if at all change the position of the war. What it would do is change the worlds attitude towards Russia.
This would be an utterly insane thing to do, not because it would escalate to full nuclear war, but because it would turn almost the entire world (including the likes of China and India) against Russia. It is not by any stretch a "likely" option.