The 2009–2010 Kaliningrad protests are social and political events in

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in 2009–2010. Many of them were discussed and commented on in the Russian and foreign media and were named as the cause of a significant public outcry. The protests included pickets and several rallies on October 24, 2009, December 12, 2009, and January 30, 2010. They became a systematic phenomenon. The first protest rally against the increase in the transport tax within the framework of the All-Russian protest action was held on the square in front of the Mother Russia monument. It was organized by the Spravedlivost public organization, whose leader is Konstantin Doroshok. The rally lasted two hours, about 500 people were present, the action was supported by the Communist Party, the Left Front social movements, the Vanguard of the Red Youth,

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

, Our City, and the

Patriots of Russia Patriots of Russia (, ) was a left-wing political party in Russia. It was established in April 2005 by Gennady Semigin, who was expelled from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation after he failed in a power struggle with Gennady Zyugan ...

party. Despite protests the Kaliningrad Regional Duma decided to raise the transport tax by an average of 25 percent. An estimated 3000–5000 people gathered near the monument to Mother Russia. Representatives of parties and social movements made speeches. Following the meeting, a resolution of 11 points was adopted, including the resignation of the regional governor Georgy Boos and the regional Duma deputies from United Russia, on the transport tariff and technical regulations. At the end of the meeting, the central highway of the city, , was blocked for 40 minutes. The meeting adopted a resolution, sent to the authorities. The response to the demands of citizens was not received within the period established by law (30 days). The next and final rally was held by around 5000 demonstrators, demanding

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

and democratic reforms, an end to the government, and a decrease in transportation fares. The police were present but didn't intervene in the uprising. 10,000–12,000 workers and peaceful demonstrators protested on 2 February, demanding the resignation of the government and better wages. Anti-government protests were led by 12,000 protesters. They started on 12

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

and ended on 19 March, when the largest and final protest took place.

References

{{morecat, date=March 2024 Protests in Russia

See also

References