>Those guys in the middle of nowhere are the biggest geeks in LoRa networks

Population dynamics in Russia are vastly different than in the West.

Geeks don't exist or survive in the countryside.

Not only it's abject poverty, it's also the culture that penalizes anyone who sticks out.

Russian countryside is kept poor and uneducated with no opportunities other than signing a military contract. That's how Russia was able to fight its 3-day invasion of Ukraine for 4 years without doing a full scale mobilization.

Anyone who even knows what a "mesh network" is would be in a city.

That's one aspect in which Ukraine and Russia are different.