Those elite soldiers look like farmers straight from Russia's Far East given surplus army uniforms and told to go forward where new lands, women and riches await.

Teenagers who were told they're going to train in Belarus and woke up in Ukraine.
We were sent as cannon fodder. We're killing peaceful people': Weeping Russian POWs say they had no idea they were being sent to war and were made 'to attack people defending their territory
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10568725/We-sent-cannon-fodder-killing-peaceful-people-Weeping-Russian-POWs.html

There's also a testimony of a young Russian boxer, who was preparing to fight in the national team. One night they told him to board a truck, he did it and went to sleep. He woke up hearing shots nearby, asked his commander where they were and why and was told that they're attacking Ukraine to stop them from placing missile launchers on the border with Russia.