Yesterday, The Economist published an article stating that, according to military plans shared with them, Russian forces aimed to get within artillery range of Kharkiv within 72 hours and were probing to see if they could partially encircle the city. Here is why I am skeptical: 
2/ First and foremost, if you examine the composition of forces Russia has used in this direction, the core of the advance consisted of motor rifle regiments with limited vehicle presence. These units were advancing in the form of dispersed small tactical groups on foot mostly
3/ Any deep and swift advance would require mechanized units ready to exploit breaches in defenses. Considering the article's claim that Russian forces had 72 hours to complete their task, the absence of a capable force to execute such a strike is rather puzzling.
4/ While Borshchova could have been seized by Russian forces within 72 hours, Pechenihy is over 30 km from the border at Vovchansk in a straight line. Were the Russians expected to advance 10 km daily on foot?
5/ Organizing the logistics for advancing troops over such a distance would be extremely difficult given the resources available to the Russians in the area. Currently, they are struggling with supply lines in the Hlyboke area, which is less than 10 km from the border.
6/ Overall, after the painful experience of the initial phase of the 2022 invasion, Russian forces have since focused on creeping advances, frontline widening, and tactical flanking maneuvers instead of attempting swift advances into operational depth
7/ While it might be tempting to dismiss this as a simple miscalculation by the command, akin to the "Kyiv in 3 days", my personal experience working with Russian plans and documents suggests that russian forces know their logistical limitations and plan much better than before
8/ In my opinion, based on the actions and composition of forces, it appeared to be a probing attack with the goal of diverting Ukrainian forces (which it successfully achieved) from Donbas. Due to initial successes, the Russians became more confident in the Kharkiv region.
9/ In turn, this can still transform from a probing and diversionary attack into a main axis. Considering the aforementioned factors, I remain skeptical of the idea that anyone seriously considered the deployed forces to be sufficient to partially encircle Kharkiv within 72 hours
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