environment KUBECONFIG not working windows

[si458]

setting environment KUBECONFIG seems to add random folder to file name on windows 11?

PS C:\Users\sas_2\Documents\Developer\talos> $env:KUBECONFIG=".\mycluster\kubeconfig"
PS C:\Users\sas_2\Documents\Developer\talos> kubectl openebs version 
2023/06/24 23:23:46 error creating kubernetes client: failed to build Kubernetes clientset: Could not build config from flags: CreateFile mycluster\kubeconfig\.kube\config: The system cannot find the path specified.
Error: exit status 1

PS C:\Users\sas_2\Documents\Developer\talos> kubectl openebs version --kubeconfig ".\mycluster\kubeconfig"
COMPONENT             VERSION
Client                v0.5.0
OpenEBS CStor         3.4.0
OpenEBS Jiva          3.4.0
OpenEBS LVM LocalPV   Not Installed
OpenEBS ZFS LocalPV   Not Installed

EDIT: even if i hard code the kubeconfig file its the same problem

$env:KUBECONFIG="C:\Users\sas_2\Documents\Developer\talos\mycluster\kubeconfig"
PS C:\Users\sas_2\Documents\Developer\talos> kubectl openebs get volumes --cas-type=cstor
2023/07/16 17:10:29 error creating kubernetes client: failed to build Kubernetes clientset: Could not build config from flags: CreateFile C:\Users\sas_2\Documents\Developer\talos\mycluster\kubeconfig\.kube\config: The system cannot find the path specified.
Error: exit status 1