Are the ancient “relatives” my direct ancestors — and why are some in places my family isn’t from?

They’re not your recent, direct ancestors. They’re individuals from thousands of years ago whose remains carry the same (or a closely related upstream) paternal haplogroup as you — distant cousins who share a common paternal ancestor with you deep in time. Their locations show where your lineage was living and spreading in antiquity, which is meaningful, but it shouldn’t be read as “my great-great-grandfather lived here.”