The previous commenter brings up indirectly an interesting point referencing
Spetsnaz which has been badly used and abused by Putin first in eastern Ukraine and now in Syria.
In eastern Ukraine they are being used in a Ranger style mode of recon and sabotage which has led to higher than normal loses as the UAF has gotten good at countering their teams......plus when two Spetsnaz officers were captured Putin basically denied they were even in Spetsnaz which caused a great amount of grumbling within the unit they were from forcing the Russian MoD to pull the unit out of eastern Ukraine and stand them down.
In the latest round of fighting the UAF has killed another 10-15.......from the very beginning the Russian MoD has been rotating the units every 3-4 months in an attempt to keep the loses per unit appearance wise low.
The same tactic is being used also now in Syria where they have lost an estimated 50 in the last six months.