Protest in Jēkabpils to demand halt to Russian grain transit via Latvia

A protest rally titled "No to Blood Grain!" will be held in Jēkabpils, Latvia, at 11:00 on Saturday, 7 November. Its aim is to persuade Latvia to ban the transit of grain produced in Russia and in occupied Ukrainian territories through the country. The organisers told the news portal Delfi about their plans.

The event follows an earlier protest held on 17 September this year. The organisers expect public response and turnout to be considerably greater this time.

Demand to the government

The initiator is farmer and public activist Gundars Kalve. Together with like-minded people, he is urging the Latvian government to follow the example of other countries and fully stop such grain shipments on Latvian railways.

Kalve stresses that the issue is not merely economic or logistical, but one of values and political will. In his view, while Ukrainians pay for their freedom with their lives and destroyed homes, Latvia should end any involvement in sustaining the economy of an aggressor state.

The organisers recall that since the start of the full-scale war, Latvian society has given broad support to Ukraine: opening homes to refugees, donating funds and delivering humanitarian aid. They say Latvia has been one of the largest supporters of Ukraine in the world relative to the size of its economy. Therefore, in their view, it is unacceptable for Latvia's transport infrastructure to still serve Russian grain transit.

They add that as Russia loses several export and transit routes it used before, each remaining corridor becomes more important, so Latvia should not be among the last countries to carry such cargo.

Supporters and machinery

The protest is backed by the charity foundation Ziedot.lv, the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, the farmers' association Zemnieku saeima, musicians, companies, farms and other associations, including the education and cultural centre "Ukrainas Māja Latvijā" (Ukraine House in Latvia).

Farmers, foresters and other owners of machinery are particularly invited to bring tractors and other equipment to demonstrate the sector's unity and firm stance.