Hehe, now that's funny! Yeah that random man on the dark alley even kicked his heels together while raising his palm next to his forehead - but I don't know if 'privjet' is the wording they use in the official protocol of Russian military =) To me 'privjet' sounds a lot more informal, indeed something you use when you happen to see a friend on a street. So I think in his spontaneous tiny performance there was an additional layer of comedy by combining strictly formal gesture with a casual greeting.

Sometimes unknown people comment on the way I look. 'You look like Jesus' is a classic I've heard on London airport security check, on a street of a small town in Scotland, and here and there in Finland. Once I got asked if I'm Marko Annala, the lead singer of a rock band Mokoma. Well, but that random drunken man, instead of plainly shouting 'hey, you look like a russian soldier!' he just acted like if I were one. And I think we need more of that - joking in body-language, putting up little spontaneous street theatre acts together with unknown people.