That would be killing a cow for a pound of meat. They are dying because the Russian generals want to be on the front line and in the heart of the action, same thing happened in Syria, so the risk of death for them is basically the same as for any other solider. Although for certain this will teach the Russians some hard lessons, as they are making many mistakes it seems. Although a war like this hasn't been fought since WW2, so comparatively I don't know if any other country would do better.