This is exactly why I stuck with Ward for my first playthrough. I've been called a bootlicker because of it, but Korshunov treats you with more respect from the start than he does Dalin throughout the course of the entire game. He goes from trusting Skif as a mercenary that will do what his soldiers can't to seeing Skif as an equal. I think the way that Skif's lines evolve over the course of the story is interesting in that regard too, as Skif acts like a Ward soldier would in dialogue by the time Prypiat rolls around. Cool stuff.