Make the Cold War end nuclear between 1989-1991

I always used to think the Cold War was "at its height" until the very end, and although the Cold War was still technically ongoing in 1991, it had for all intents and purposes ended when Gorbachev took power. While I know it could be a far flung prospect given how brutally the Soviet economy was treated in the push to keep up with Western millitary spending, could there have been any way in which what were days of relative peace in the late 80s/early 90s been met with a firery end?
 
The Gang of Eight's coup attempt is better organized, and leads to an all-out civil war; which escalates to tactical nuclear strikes between the two sides.
 
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