why so many of the TV political pundits haven't spotted the obvious about Kyiv / Kiev.

they would have to be historically ignorant and/or emotionally incompetent.

Putin doesn't want to bomb Kyiv flat because it would be like completely trashing his own bedroom to kill a nuisance infestation. It's of huge mythological & cultural significance (musical, artistic etc). He wants it surrendered to him with the ancient bits intact. Destroying it to obtain Ukraine would be an abject failure.

not to take anything away from the superior local knowledge and determination of the Ukrainian people though:

Trent Telenko on Twitter