I don’t think it’s possible to overstress how vital it is for a nation to have year round access to the sea. St. Petersburg could be blockaded easily with naval mines and missiles, while Archangel is ice bound for a significant part of the year. Vladivostok is several hundred million miles from anywhere that matters and directly across the pacific from US naval bases in Hawaii and San Francisco.

Like if you’ve got evidence to the contrary please by all means present it, but to the best of my knowledge year round access to the seas with high volume ports is right below energy independence and nuclear weapons on the list of vital strategic assets.