The US landed its disposable spacecraft in the oceans. The Soviets feared that the US Navy could get to its spaceship first, so they landed within their own borders.
It's a rough landing, but only one comonaut has died after re-entry -- in the very first Soyuz, when the chute failed to open. In all fairness, hitting the ocean without a parachute wouldn't be a much softer landing, and would also be a certain fatality.
Soyuz, like the AK-47, is a well-tested design, less elegant and less capable than their Western counterparts, but more robust when things don't go according to plan.
What about the three that asphyxiated when a purge valve opened too soon?