Emerging from a friend¡¯s Maserati on southern Spain¡¯s Mediterranean coast, Ksenia Sobchak wants the world to know this: Back home in Russia, fighting for change is futile.

¡°There is no resistance, nor can there be any,¡± she said. ¡°This has to be understood.¡±

She can point to ample proof to support her pessimism: Thousands of Russians have been arrested for protesting the war. Hundreds of journalists are in exile. Opposition leaders are serving yearslong prison terms.