Ukraine infrastructure is mostly intact. If the Russians really wanted to hit them where it hurts then they can start blowing up all of the critical infrastructure across Ukraine. They don’t need to go around turning cities into rubble when they can knock out the power grid and water infrastructure to let time slowly degrade the cities and economy. It is not like this war of attrition is ending anytime soon but Putin is more of a moderate compared to the other Russian hardliners.
So far, striking deep within Ukraine territory seems to be a role reserved for cruise missiles and drones. My guess is that Ukrainian air defenses in the
western regions have not been degraded as much as it's been claimed for the eastern regions. Further, what damage the Russians have been able to inflict in western Ukraine have been quickly repaired. Unless they were to take a carpet bombing approach, which would almost certainly invite Western intervention and global condemnation, it wouldn't be very effective. Remember the Russians aren't just facing Ukraine, here. They're facing the Western war machine, 99% of which Russia cannot touch, so the strategy from Putin seems to be to out last the Western public's interest in Ukraine, which requires that he doesn't escalate on the brutality.
