In how many days did Putin really hope to take Kiev?
Folklore and expert gossip speak of 3 days.
I have no doubt that Putin hoped this would be done in no more than a week.
Such were the mass beliefs in Russia.
Unfortunately, they were like that in Bulgaria as well.

That is why already on January 27, 2022, I wrote:
"Those in Russia and those in Bulgaria who are overexcited by the conviction that Russia will crush Ukraine in a few days and in just a week its victorious troops will march triumphantly down Khreshchatyk, the main boulevard of Kiev, must realize clearly, that another blitzkrieg had begun with triumphant and stunning victories. And how it ended and what colossal misfortunes it brought to Europe, we all know."

The documents that will become available after Putin's Russia loses the war will really show how many days it was planned to take the capital of Ukraine, Kiev, by means of a rapid blitzkrieg.
By the way, for the first time I use the word "blitzkrieg" on February 23, 2022, i.e. BEFORE THE WAR BEGAN. Then I write:
"Putin will carry out a blitzkrieg.
But he will break his neck. Putin is Evil and will end badly - whether in a palace or in a bunker.
Putin is the last aggressor of such a massive scale in the history of human civilization. After its inevitable end, the world will be a better place to live in.”

In other words, the question of the number of days allocated by Putin for the capture of Kiev remains open for now.
But it has been conclusively proven that Putin thought that Kharkiv (the former capital of Ukraine) would be taken in two days. In 2 (two) days!
History will write its books about this War.
And if
The defeat of the Nazis near Moscow was significant - it showed and proved that Germany could be defeated (although there was still a long time to victory),
then
The defeat of the rashists near Kharkiv will one day be defined as symbolic - it showed and proved that Russia will be defeated.
At Kharkiv, the rashists broke their teeth for the first time.
The fact that Kharkiv did not fall in two days and did not surrender at all is a great story of the Ukrainian spirit!

In this linguistically Russified city, Ukrainians of various ethnicities – not only Ukrainian and not only Russian; Ukrainian-speaking ethnic Ukrainians, Russian-speaking ethnic Ukrainians, Ukrainian-speaking ethnic Russians, Russian-speaking ethnic Russians - all of them together with a colossal military and civilian mobilization stopped the enemy!
The story does not know the conditional "if...". But it is quite likely that if Kharkiv had fallen, perhaps the backbone of Ukraine would have been broken!
Kharkiv is not an ordinary city.
Kharkiv is a city of the History of Ukraine as an independent state.
Kharkiv is a city where the Ukrainian political nation is forged - in it everyone can be of a different ethnicity, profess a different religion, speak a different language, be born in a different settlement in or outside of Ukraine, but he is a Ukrainian as citizen, he is Ukrainian as a patriot, he is Ukrainian as belonging, he is Ukrainian as destiny.
Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine.
Kharkiv, as I said, is the former capital of Ukraine.
One of the reasons it is a former capital is because it is militarily vulnerable.
If Kharkiv fell, the entire philosophy and strategy of the War would change.
If Kharkiv fell, the morale of the Ukrainians could fall sharply.
If Kharkiv fell, the rashists would fly high in their self-confidence and confidence that the victory would be swift and crushing.
If Kharkiv fell, the world, even the democratic part of it, would say to themselves - yes, it is known, Ukraine will be defeated, it is only a matter of time.
Let's not forget that the cleansing of 98% of Kharkiv region from rashists (and the liberation of Kherson as well) finally made the democratic states realize that Ukraine cannot be defeated!
Even the leaders of the democratic countries were frightened, like true MIcron-ists, that Putin could be cornered, so they said that he should have been given a way to save face.
And these Western leaders pressured the Ukrainians to slow down the offensive in November-December, reduced their military aid threefold in a month and a half; this gave Russia a chance to catch its breath, regroup, mass mobilize, and move from early 2023 into a flimsy and doomed but still massive offensive that resulted in an additional 20-30,000 dead Ukrainian fighters and an additional 2,000-3,000 dead Ukrainian civilians.
Only the tank Ramstein significantly changed the level of military aid, but this did stress the Mikron-ists in Western politics again, so the aircraft Ramstein was a bit of a Western fiasco.

The importance of Kharkiv is inestimable.
And I say this not driven by subjective emotions as a person who was in Kharkiv for 4 years (1975-1979) as a student and 4 years (1982-1986) as a graduate student.
I say it because that is the objective truth.
Kharkiv gave Hope to Ukraine.
Kharkiv was the beginning of the end of the rashists.
Kharkiv is the battle in which indeed for the first time the rashists broke their teeth.
Kharkiv is the first Ukrainian hero city in this war.

A country and people who have a city like Kharkiv can never be defeated.
I look around in vain and think - which of our cities would the Bulgarian Kharkiv be, if necessary. I say "in vain" because I doubt that there is any Bulgarian city that can repeat the feat of Kharkiv.
I hope I am wrong in this pessimism.
And most importantly, I hope we don't have to repeat the feat of Kharkiv!
Because we are a country where a huge part of the people seem to love Russia more than Bulgaria.
Because we are a country on whose national holiday hundreds (at least hundreds) of Russian flags fly.
Because we are a country whose head of state is an avowed rashist.
Because we are a country where rashists poison the air of the parliament.
Because we are the most pro-rashist country not only in the EU, but also in Europe.
And because we are a country in which, in the system of national security and defense, foreign policy and internal order, probably 80% are on the side of rashism and no longer hide it - with pathetic gestures they take off their masks and stop their pro-Euro-Atlantic mimicry.
And I don't even want to talk about the biases and beliefs of a significant part of the teachers in security and defense, foreign policy and internal order.
It's not so much that I don't want to talk - I don't have the energy to talk.
Because of the pain I'm feeling, I'm just out of words...

03/08/2023