How so? Are we all supposed to pretend that we think that Russia's nukes work for... Reasons?
We know they worked at some point. We have no idea how well they work now (though I assume that the CIA has a good idea of how they were maintained, judging from the leaks). So, it’s not pretending: statistically, some of them will work. Assuming they do not work at all is reckless. They have thousands of nuclear warheads; if only 1% of them work that’s still tenths of weapons able to delete a large city each. So regardless of the superiority one might feel, underestimating the opponents when the stakes are so high is… suboptimal.
There's a difference between reckless and toxic though.
I don't think anyones advocating firing a few nukes at Russia on the basis they can't retaliate, so I don't see decision as being reckless.
Since WWII the west has perused a military strategy known as brinksmanship. They want to extract maximum possible concessions with threats of attack, and removing internal opposition to trivial wars is a means of maximizing the threat of war with the US.
Define your adjective, otherwise no one is able to follow.
"Toxic" like in "toxic" masculinity or in toxic chemical?
Toxic as in will make cities getting vaporized more likely, if it catches on.