1. Caspian doesn’t count. It’s an inland landlocked sea. Black Sea DOES have outlets, but historically, the Ottomans have made this difficult.
2. A lot of those seas get frozen over in the winter. Russia has therefore wanted to territorially expand to areas that don’t get frozen over in the winter. The Arctic Ocean is frozen for most of the year and barely counts.
3. As you said, it’s really hard to coordinate the Pacific Fleet with everyone else.
DrHolmes52 on
Geography: “I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that you get 5 seas”
Russia: “Great! What’s the bad news?”
Geography: “Here they are”
Russia: “Shit”
ExternalSeat on
“access” is relative and for Russia it is mostly hypothetical. The Caspian Sea is a slightly salty lake with no real strategic importance. The Black Sea has always been cockblocked by Istanbul and even then Suez and Gibraltar aren’t exactly Russian friends either. The Baltic is entirely cut off by Denmark and Germany and freezes in Winter. Vladivostok also freezes in Winter and might as well be on the moon as far as logistics are concerned.
that just leaves Murmansk as the only reliable open ocean port Russia has somewhat close to its core. And that is still not a very good situation.
let’s just face it, Russia is functionally a landlocked nation.
Green_Sympathy_1157 on
What no warm water ports dose to an mf
Cefalopodul on
The Caspian Sea is in fact not a sea but a lake because it is enclosed on all sides. To be a sea it must connected directly or indirectly to the ocean.
TheBlackCat13 on
How many of those 5 seas
1. Have access to the ocean
2. That has liquid water on its surface the majority of the year
3. Doesn’t have outlets controlled by less than friendly countries
Ok_Gear_7448 on
I mean in fairness to russia, the Caspian Sea only became connected to a warm water port under Stalin with a canal fit only for barge traffic.
NeilJosephRyan on
Everyone is acting like OP is calling Russia incompetent, but I think the point is that “5 seas” SOUNDS good on paper, but the 5 seas in question are actually shit. Russia has one of the longest coastlines in the world, but is practically landlocked militarily.
Surfer_Rick on
They do have the significant misfortune of being the worst navy the world has ever seen.Â
Wazma9 on
“Spare warm water port, please spare, warm water port.”
Wgh555 on
The main reason Russia has never been a global power in the way that Britain, Spain, France and America have been. China’s geography may also end up with a similar result for them too.
11 Comments
1. Caspian doesn’t count. It’s an inland landlocked sea. Black Sea DOES have outlets, but historically, the Ottomans have made this difficult.
2. A lot of those seas get frozen over in the winter. Russia has therefore wanted to territorially expand to areas that don’t get frozen over in the winter. The Arctic Ocean is frozen for most of the year and barely counts.
3. As you said, it’s really hard to coordinate the Pacific Fleet with everyone else.
Geography: “I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that you get 5 seas”
Russia: “Great! What’s the bad news?”
Geography: “Here they are”
Russia: “Shit”
“access” is relative and for Russia it is mostly hypothetical. The Caspian Sea is a slightly salty lake with no real strategic importance. The Black Sea has always been cockblocked by Istanbul and even then Suez and Gibraltar aren’t exactly Russian friends either. The Baltic is entirely cut off by Denmark and Germany and freezes in Winter. Vladivostok also freezes in Winter and might as well be on the moon as far as logistics are concerned.
that just leaves Murmansk as the only reliable open ocean port Russia has somewhat close to its core. And that is still not a very good situation.
let’s just face it, Russia is functionally a landlocked nation.
What no warm water ports dose to an mf
The Caspian Sea is in fact not a sea but a lake because it is enclosed on all sides. To be a sea it must connected directly or indirectly to the ocean.
How many of those 5 seas
1. Have access to the ocean
2. That has liquid water on its surface the majority of the year
3. Doesn’t have outlets controlled by less than friendly countries
I mean in fairness to russia, the Caspian Sea only became connected to a warm water port under Stalin with a canal fit only for barge traffic.
Everyone is acting like OP is calling Russia incompetent, but I think the point is that “5 seas” SOUNDS good on paper, but the 5 seas in question are actually shit. Russia has one of the longest coastlines in the world, but is practically landlocked militarily.
They do have the significant misfortune of being the worst navy the world has ever seen.Â
“Spare warm water port, please spare, warm water port.”
The main reason Russia has never been a global power in the way that Britain, Spain, France and America have been. China’s geography may also end up with a similar result for them too.