Clancy wove Ramius ethnicity in the story line purposely and it may not have been fully appreciated by some readers or movie goers. In real life, the Soviet Navy would have never given the keys to Red October to a Lithuanian. They would have been concerned that as soon as Ramius made the North Sea, Moscow would start taking on the appearance of the back side of the moon.
IIRC, Ramius' father was a high ranking member of the Soviet Communist Party, so it was assumed that Ramius was a loyal communist.
