The thing is the people who are fighting them see it differently. And that is the one that count. You can unilaterally think whatever you want, but if you blindly think that due to your own illusion, than you are taking an objectivity out of your combat objective.
Just because I think the People of Iraq is friendly, that DOES NOT EQUAL to they are friendly. And if you planned accordingly, that is your fault for not seeing the ground situation as is.
In short, if the people now fighting them are "Their" people the casualty of Russia will not be that high, and who's fault is it? Are you going to blame the hostile people being hostile?