The original plan of Barbarossa was to have Moscow as one of three primary targets (the others were Kiev and Leningrad) - Moscow was the center of Russia's rudimentary travel and communications networks - and as it turned out Stalin was determined to meet his fate in Moscow -which would have destroyed the political structure of Russia, Guderian's panzers were about 200 miles from Moscow when Hitler diverted them to complete half of a pincers movement behind Kiev. Once that was done the panzers were sent back towards Moscow where they came close to Moscow (forward units could actually see the spires of the Kremlin) but between improved Soviet defenses (built during the respite while the panzers were to the south), winter equipped Russan reinforcements brought in from the Far East (which included a bunch of T-34 tanks) and eventually the weather dashed any hope of taking Moscow.