The Russian invasion force is backtracking

The Russian command is at last indirectly acknowledging what we have all been witnessing for the last four weeks: the massive push to occupy the whole country and seize all the major cities has totally failed. So now the objectives of the war have been cut back to grabbing the Donbas region in the east and turning it into a Russian enclave. Does this mean Putin, or at least, his generals, have given up the dream of capturing Kyiv and planting a stooge as head of the government? Surely the answer must be yes. The Russian commanders are claiming they have succeeded with the first phase of their invasion and can now concentrate on the eastern part of the country which Putin wants to be pure Russian - presumably he has ethnic cleansing in mind. But how can the generals claim the first phase was a success unless by that they mean the almost total destruction of Mariupol? How could that ever be considered a victory for Russia, especially as the courageous Ukrainian fighters left in the ruins of the city are refusing to surrender? Russia's first phase demonstrated everything that was wrong about the invasion, in terms of military capability. It has been a disastrous campaign for Moscow and now the generals on the ground are effectively agreeing. I have no doubt that if they do now concentrate on the Donbas region they will find a totally different type of Ukrainian resistance which could see the Russian forces smothered and even defeated. Let us hope so.