If this is true and I have no reason to believe it’s not, unless the Ukrainian army puts up a fierce resistance then Kharkiv will get a real pounding from Russian artillery.
If the Ukrainian Army pulls back to another defensive line, there would be no reason to level the city.
I heard in the same report that Odessa is the next city after Kharkiv to be encircled and taken.
We’ll see, but never fear the 60 billion that eventually will be sent to them by the US will save the day.
Odess is the main goal. Once the Russians have that port city and the Ukraine is reduced to a rump state, watch the Europeans carve up the rest. The Ukraine will be no more.
It's on the other side of the river. The issue for the Russians is that their convoys will get attacked as they try to get supplies across the river. So they're more likely to take Kyiv first before Odessa.