Hysteria. Even the FT article itself doesn't bring up Taiwan and AR in any hypothetical use of tactical nukes by Russia, which (besides second strike) revolve around an invasion of Russia itself and a severe degradation of conventional forces. To quote,"The training materials show Russia's eastern military district was rehearsing multiple scenarios including using nukes against China in a Chinese invasion."
Its possible Russians suspect Reunification of Outer Manchuria (Historical Chinese regions invaded by Russia) with Mainland during the taiwan contingency
No need to give the fantasies of a talking head any considerationThe slides summarise the threshold as a combination of factors where losses suffered by Russian forces “would irrevocably lead to their failure to stop major enemy aggression”, a “critical situation for the state security of Russia”. Other potential conditions include the destruction of 20 per cent of Russia’s strategic ballistic missile submarines, 30 per cent of its nuclear-powered attack submarines, three or more cruisers, three airfields, or a simultaneous hit on main and reserve coastal command centres.