The Soviets evolved a fairly good convoy system along all weather roads and tunnels in Afghanistan, and mostly conscripted troops were give guidance on interacting with the population properly and respectfully, like how most women wore the chadaree or burqa (there's a few delusional people on social media who think that the old Afghanistan had many secular minded people outside a tiny urban segment). Anyhow, it isn't clear whether Putin has reversed a post Soviet degeneration which saw a fall in standards which was not wholly a matter of cuts in spending. Rough and ready fighters (like the Rhodesian troopies, can be very good), but it isn't clear how drunks make great fighters.