Hundreds Rally in Jēkabpils Against Russian Grain Transit Through Latvia

Hundreds of people have gathered in Jēkabpils, Latvia, on Saturday, 7 November, for a protest titled "No to Blood Grain!". Participants are calling on the Latvian government to ban the transit through the country of grain produced in Russia and in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. The issue is pressing because grain volumes passing through Latvia have risen sharply.

The initiator of the rally is Gundars Kalve, a farmer and public activist. Together with like-minded people, he urges the authorities to halt such shipments on Latvian railways entirely. Dozens of heavy vehicles, including tractors and grain trucks, have been parked near the venue.

The organisers point out that since the war began, Latvian society has supported Ukraine by taking in refugees, donating money and delivering humanitarian aid. In their view, it is unacceptable that Latvia's transport infrastructure is still used for Russian grain transit. They also argue that, as Russia has lost several export and transit routes it used before, each remaining corridor becomes more important, so Latvia should not be among the last countries to handle such cargo.

Some attendees said they had come to support the action and noted that Latvian farmers also suffer from the grain transit.

Transit volumes are rising

Data from the State Revenue Service (VID) show that in the first ten months of this year, 1.115 million tonnes of cereals were transported in transit from Russia through Latvia. In the same period last year the figure was 357,645 tonnes, a 3.1-fold increase.

Cereal transit from Belarus has also climbed steeply: 185,756 tonnes in ten months this year, compared with 60.8 tonnes a year earlier.