Don't agree, or better would agree if we were comparing two extremes, a very developed and rich democracy to a North Korea - which I don't think is the case. Anyway what do you suggest: no sanctions at all that could affect athletes? No sanctions that affect athletes only if they come from dictatorships?
Their job is to give good exposure to the Army (Navy, Air Force, whatever) - they do it all the time and is well within regulations. They compete for the Army sport club (probably not very noticeable unless for media mentions by only watching competitions for NTs/federations), wear their sports uniform, or military uniform (Italians in equestrian is a case of this), thank their club in interviews + all the times that they are used for soft internal propaganda (media and social media exposure, public ceremonies, etc... what pro athletes do with their sponsors, in this case the sponsor is also a public and military employer, directly tied to the government). If this happens with Italians and Russia is such a brutal dictatorship, I guess it's several times bigger there and in a more nationalistic way.