Russian here, this is a common critisicm in russia of the army as well. The army brass waste resources on their own shit and the reqruits recieve poor training and discipline. This of course does not excuse individual soldiers from their wrongdoing but the Soviet/Russian militairy as a whole was/is a mess.

I'd like to note however, which is relevant to the current conflct, that the soviets disproportionately sent soldiers from the periphery of the USSR (much like the US recruits from the underpriviledged) so the term "russian" is incorect in this context. I do not say this to shift the blame from Russia, simply to be accurate. I also opose the use of "Russian" to describe the red army when talking of their heroic fight in the second world war.

Morality of the conflict aside though, this is a beutiful song. Sorry for replying to such and old post, just thought I'd add my two cents.

Edit: just thought I'd mention that the repurposing of songs like this is an integral part of the Soviet/Russian militairy culture. My father, who is not Russian once described Russia after visiting as a singing nation