Agreed, partially at least.
First of all, I forgot that you're building in 1/350, I built it in 1/700, hence it cost a lot less than yours.
Secondly, I think the 1/350 version came after the 1/700 one, not sure, but if they just up scaled it, then of course there will be more inaccuracies.
However, one thing you have to take in account. Time frame. These kits are already some years old now. Don't forget that those pictures you can so easily get, are coming from people like me, collectors who go in certain places where google doesn't go. I've also shown you the good source, where ex-Soviet people share their pics, not a place where google will lead you either. And even in those places, up till only few years ago, they didn't share such pictures either.
Back when those kits were coming out, a google search on Kirov brought you maybe 1 or 2 good pictures and that was about it. Afterwards the forums started booming, Chinese started stealing pics from everywhere and placing them on their sites in the open and that's how Google gives them so easily now. Try to find a dry dock picture of an Udaloy, up till only two years ago, it was practically inexistent, now a couple are around and so people start copying it around etc.
Main point is, back when they made the kit, they probably didn't have those pics around, not even with a thorough search, and when you have to work from a few sketchy pics it's a lot more difficult to get things right.
That of course, and the main thing that Trumpeter prefers volume over quality, they'd rather pump out 30 different kits, USN, RN, whatever, in lower quality than make one good model a year. Very easy, everybody who was even moderately attracted to a Kirov bought their Kirov, accurate or not, by cutting development time, they could also create a Slava, in the same time as a normal company would pump out a high quality Kirov, that Slava too, was sold many times, to anybody who was remotely interested in Russian ships. So practically they weren't losing any customers by lower quality, by the time anybody wanted to compare the qualities of different kits, they already sold many... Same counts for everything that followed, I guess that's their policy. And in areas where kits are already available, like a battleships which Tamiya also has, they just sell it much cheaper, because the time they invested is again much less than other companies.
It's only after a while that their reputation will start to work against them, and even then, only in limited form by the people who really care about accuracy...
One of the reasons why I'm just scratchbuilding whatever I want to whatever amount of detail I want (unfortunately not yet up to the quality standard in finish that I'd want
).