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I don't know how much absolute power Putin has. Can he successfully launch a first strike attack? Would his circle and the chain of command follow the order promptly or is there a decent chance of a coup? I'd assume that at least some powerful oligarchs wouldn't be in favor of a nuclear war.

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They probably can’t even find the keys to their missiles in the first place.

“Damn it, they’re supposed to be on the hook next to the fridge - I told you never to move those!”

“Did you check the junk drawer honey? What about in the garage with your fishing stuff?”

In the USSR era, the Premier did not have the authority to start a nuclear war. That required either the permission of the Politburo or the detection of the destruction of Moscow with nuclear weapons.

The USSR, post-Stalin, tried to avoid giving the Premier unlimited power. They'd had that with Stalin, and it didn't end well. That may not have persisted into the Putin era.

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