Why are Russia's resources so difficult to develop it's natural resources?

Russia's oil and gas reserves are located in inhospitable areas. The only way any of them were ever developed.....Joseph Stalin took millions of his own citizens and made them political prisoners and through forced labor was able to build infrastructure in areas that no one would work in of their own free will. Russia and Vladimir Putin in particular are trying to take control of the Ukraine right now for much the same reasons. It's a very lucrative area and they would like control of it.....again