I read that Russia has always struggled to have or maintain warm water ports; a critical requirement to being a superpower. How were the Soviets able to have a navy powerful enough to concern the West with nuclear subs, or to deliver nuclear missiles to Cuba if Russia has always had trouble with warm water ports?
Your question is based on false pretenses. Russia had/has several warm water ports. To name three of the most prominent: St. Petersburg (Baltic Sea and direct access to the Atlantic via the North Sea), Sevastopol (Black Sea, with direct access to the Mediterranean via the Turkish Straits), Vladivostok (direct access to the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean). This is to say nothing of those states, like the Baltic States, that are not a part of Russia, but very much were a part of the Soviet Union.