If you want to be part of Russia, it’s only fair that draftees get mistreated like any other Russian draftees from the regions other than Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The Kremlin prefers their cannon fodder not come from big cities.
Russian ground forces are around 250K so they are primarily draftees. There is not a lot of professionalism in their ground forces. Still the idea that the troops are issued WW2 weapons is ridiculous. As is the idea that there is some mass of elite units waiting for the right time to be committed. The goal of any war is to win it as quickly as possible with as little loss as possible. If elite Russian forces existed in large numbers they would have already been employed..