[Svartalfiar]

The goal was NEVER to take Kiev. No army is going to take a city of nearly three million with 40,000 troops. You're are completely ignorant about war strategy.

Huh? One of the big prongs in their initial invasion was straight toward Kiev. Here, I even found you a leftist article that talks all about it: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/28/the-battle-for-kyiv-revisited-the-litany-of-mistakes-that-cost-russia-a-quick-win.

[Kazan]

Again, only someone severely lacking in military strategy would think a military could take a city of almost three millions with an army of 40,000, which was the number sent to surround Kiev.

The purpose of Russia doing so was either to force negotiations or to keep Ukrainian troops in place while the Russians worked on liberating Donbass.