RIP to Him and condolences to his friends and family.
I must say it seems strange to look through a large number of photos of weapons and equipment I am interested in with all the faces blurred except one.
It is a very dangerous business unfortunately.
As the average trooper does not have the choice and generally is issued AK-74s, I would expect this guy had a choice of weapon. If he picked an AKM for the purpose then perhaps that was more about his tastes than anything else. I would suspect 7.62 x 39mm ammo is rather more widespread than 9 x 39mm ammo in most places around the world. In practical terms there is not much between an AK-103 and an AKM, except the number available in stocks. I doubt the target would know the difference.