Ivan isn’t doctrinally stupid. Arguably, Ivan is (institutionally) the current grand master at urban warfare. As the author David Drake points out, there is nothing worse than city fighting in someone else’s city.
Rule one of urban warfare: If you can avoid having to conduct urban warfare, do so. Laying siege and starving the occupants out where practical (especially if you let civilians leave) is usually a better idea and gets less people killed on both sides. They will likely surrender and if they don’t there will be fewer people you have to root out and kill.
Russians have a different doctrine. Theirs is to massacre civilians to create terror.
You’re guilty of what kids nowadays call “American Cultural Imperialism” assuming that American values are universal.