It's been 2 months since the Russian invasion, despite Ukraine's resistance, war maps show that Putin is actually gaining ground, especially after the fall of Mariupol, and the military advances in the Donbas region, while they are extremely close to Kharkiv. On top of that, Odesa is certainly their next target, since its prime location, which would block Ukraine's access to the sea.
Certainly, Putin didn't win the war within a few days, just like he expected, however, things have taken a turn for the worse, mourning thousands of casualties.
I think that Nikolaev, Kharkov and Odessa are now facing a difficult choice - to repeat the fate of Kherson or Mariupol. Both cities are now under Russian control, but Kherson was taken almost without resistance, and Mariupol with heavy urban fighting. From the point of view of access to the sea, in my opinion, Nikolaev is even more important than Odessa (and both of them are not as important as Mariupol), but Russia has a personal score with Odessa for the incident in the House of Trade Unions.
It is very difficult to predict which direction Russia has a higher priority now - to close the boiler in the Donbas for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in eastern Ukraine, or to connect with Russian peacekeepers in Transnistria in southern Ukraine. The Russian General Staff is reluctant to voice its plans.
Meanwhile,
the Guardian published an article with the results of the work of forensic experts, who found that "dozens" of Bucha residents from mass graves were killed by small darts from artillery shrapnel shells. The general tone of the article is still anti-Russian (it would be strange to expect otherwise from the Guardian), but the results of the examination make one wonder - for example, how the Russians could fire artillery at the city, which they themselves held at the time.
Regardless of what his next move is, one thing is certain, the future is scary. Putin might have failed his initial plan of conquering Ukraine within a few days, but his military has captured major Ukrainian cities, which account for quite a large part of their whole country. On top of that, he isn't going to stop there, as you've also mentioned, Putin will head for the three major cities, practically blocking Ukraine's access to the sea while at the same time surrounding Kyiv from nearly all sides.