Thousands of people gathered in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea, on Saturday to demand Prime Minister Vladimir Putin step down from his seat amid growing concerns in higher commodity cost and unemployment.

The leader of the opposition group Solidarity, Boris Nemtsov, said in a radio interview that the people were rallying against what he said was a “25-30 percent” increase in utility bills and the rising rate of unemployment. He also said that political parties, including the Communist parties, helped organize the rally.

Bills for electricity and water, as well as transportation and housing, are traditionally increased after the New Year in Russia. This helps inflation as seen when it reached 1.7 percent during the first days of the year.

Despite this little success, Russia is still struggling with the ongoing economic recession. Its growth domestic product went down by 8.9 percent during the third quarter of 2009 and unemployment reached 8.2 percent last month.

The rally is already quite rare for the popular politician. According to a recent poll, he still as the most popular figure in Russian politics with a trust rating of 54 percent, followed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at 42 percent.