There is launch site in Plesetsk, Russia, not far from north pole. You need a significant amout of excess fuel to launch a satellite with something different from polar orbit. That is why only small amount of light-weight satellites launched from there. No any serious space vehicles was lauched from Plesetsk.

Baikonur in Kasakhstan is much closer to equator, than other Russian launch sites. That is why it still used to launch most heavy missions, despite being placed in another country. And it is not close to infrastructure at all. Most infrastructure from manufacturing facilities to mission control is in Russia, not far from Moscow,

You don't need to be exactly at equator to get most from Earth rotation.