This is an interesting take, and an actual possibility IMO as some stuff maintaining modern nuclear warheads are quite expensive. You gotta do it quite regularly too... I wonder how far corruption have made it.

I'd love to know more but I guess it's quite the secret.

Curse you, capitalist dog! Have seen through my clever disguise and ruined plans!

I... I'm not sure that putting boots on the ground will help if Russia is tossing nukes around. Assuming the nukes still work, of course, which is questionable given the state of the rest of their military.

But: air superiority would do a lot, and between that and cruise missile saturation, maybe no boots will be needed. Also, Ukraine targeting Russia's early warning systems does rather imply a set-up to prepare for air strikes.

Well, wait and see, I guess. My bet is that Ji made it clear to Putin that he was not allowed to employ nukes. That's not at all in China's interest, and Putin has to say, "yes, sir."