The Russians were in bad shape in the summer of 2022. If the Ukrainians took Crimea, that’ll be the end of Putin. The Ukrainians could have done it but I would guess that they ran out of ammo at that point. Then the winter saved the Russians so they had the time to organize their defenses and to mobilize extra troops to the front.
I think you are confused on both the timeline and the geography. They didn't recapture Kherson until November 2022 - long after the summer. They never got close to Crimea in the summer of 2022.