If begun around V-E day, we probably wouldn't have had to resort to nukes. They should have listened to Patton.
I blame it on Sweden. If the Swedes had not alerted the UN about all the radiation pouring out of Chernobyl, the plant would have melted into the groundwater and rendered most of Russia uninhabitable. And most of the men sterile, which would have prevented Alex in the first place.
Damn you, Sweden!