Fostering Proximity Through Telegram’s Logistics: Russian Anti-War Activism Between Streets and Streams

Space is “a set of relations between entities and is not a substance” (Urry, 1985, p. 25). Starting from this proposition, this article examines the constitution of protest spaces enacted through a set of physical and technological entities. The case study is of Russian anti-war actors who aimed to organise anti-war protests following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, after which repression in the country significantly intensified and many were forced into exile. By conducting qualitative interviews with anti-war actors, underpinned by offline and online ethnography, the study examines hidden street anti-war agitation in Russia and reveals logistical orchestration in exile. Drawing on previous research that studies activism through a framework of “algorithmic tactics,” this article reveals that while anti-war actors cope with algorithms, their broader approach extends beyond the algorithmic logic of social media. Instead, anti-war actors incorporate infrastructural adaption. The study argues that in order to foster proximity between dispersed geographical localities, actors utilise the affordances of both digital and physical environments. Specifically, it zooms in on logistical media, particularly Telegram, that enables polycentric coordination among multiple sites and allows anti-war actors to navigate in different contexts—inside the country as well as abroad.