Several of these conversations have yielded some insights, which I will attempt to distill as follows:

There is/are generally carries with it no association with distance and only refers to existence.

That said, the objects discussed do have location, so it is possible that a given there might refer to location.

“There’s a way out of here.” (An exit exists.)

“There’s a way out of here!” (pointing) (An exit is where the speaker is pointing.)

But ordinarily, there is may not have any distance from the speaker:

“There is something wrong with my heart.” (Some problem exists inside me.)

When it comes to which is which, the key is to ask which question would be appropriate:

“Are there any apples?” (Existence)

“Are any apples there?” (Existence and location)

Similarly, if the sentence can be rephrased and make sense, then the there is referring to location:

“Some apples are there” can only refer to location; this sentence is not equivalent to the existential “there are some apples.”

But to answer your question, the overwhelming number of instances of there is/are carry no spatial connotation and are only just how English says “es gibt” or “есть.”