re: What if Putin’s strategy is more complex

I think you are giving Putin to much credit. His generals and Defense Ministry stooges gave him an overly optimistic assessment of Russian forces and under estimated the abilities of the Ukrainians. Classic blunders. As others have pointed out, the Russians thought they could mash the Ukrainians quickly and force a surrender. If the intelligence is to be believed, the Russians have lost a third of their invasion force. There’s no way that would be a planned result.