Would Russia Really Use Nuclear Weapons Against Its Neighbors?

From The Christian Science Monitor:

A new Russian doctrine – which says it can use nuclear weapons preemptively against small regional adversaries – is seen either as a sign of aggression or bluster to mask insecurity.

Moscow - The Kremlin is drafting a new military doctrine, due by year's end, that may authorize the armed forces to use nuclear weapons not only to counter a massive conventional attack but even to launch a preemptive strike against a small regional adversary – such as neighboring Georgia or Ukraine – that might be deemed a threat to Russia.

Or so declared the new doctrine's main author, Kremlin Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev, in a newspaper interview that sent shock waves rolling around the world last month and generated a storm of controversy among military analysts.

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My Comment: A Russian doctrine which accepts the idea of a nuclear first strike is disturbing, but it is surprising that it is being publicized like this. It seems that the Kremlin is trying its best to intimidate their former Soviet satellite states to tow Moscow's line ... will they succeed .... I doubt it. Threatening to cut natural gas supplies in the middle of winter has more of an impact on Russia's neighboring states than brandishing a new version of a doctrine .... but the Russian Government must play in front of their own constituents, and this type of talk is what many Russians want to hear now.