huge soviet military installations in the game and fultoning these highly trained soldiers

That's not really the vibe I get from their depiction of the Soviets. Ignoring OKB Zero, which isn't really Soviet, the biggest military installation there is a base with three concrete hangars, one of which is caved in. It's not exactly Bagram Airfield over here.

And I'm not entirely sure how the soldiers skills work, but I'm pretty sure I find higher skill soldiers in Africa than Afghanistan.