Protests against the monetization of in-kind benefits continued on 18 January in various Russian cities for the 10th consecutive day. In Moscow Oblast there have been 24 unauthorized rallies involving some 10,000 people in 14 districts since 9 January. St. Petersburg experienced three days of unauthorized rallies starting on 15 January. On 16 January about 1,500 people blocked Nevskii Prospekt, the city\'s main thoroughfare. In Samara, a rally was held for the sixth consecutive day on 17 January. In the Siberian city of Angarsk, some 2,000 people blocked traffic along the main streets and gained access to the city administration building.A map on gazeta.ru depictingareas where protests have taken place shows that the demonstrations have not been concentrated in any particular federal district, but have occurred throughout Russia (http://www.gazeta.ru/firstplace.shtml). Among the latest cities experiencing unauthorized rallies since 14 January are Orel, Kaluga, Stavropol, Vologoda, Kazan, Novgorod, Khabarovsk, Angarsk, Nalchik, Cherkessk, Perm, Saratov, Tyumen, Novosibirsk, Naberezhnyi Chelny, and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, according to gazeta.ru. \"Nezavismaya gazeta\" on 17 January argued that although some people have already dubbed the protests as the \"chintz revolution\" (chintz is a cheap material often worn by pensioners) the real revolution will take place in February when people start to receive bills for their utilities and rent. According to the daily, in a majority of regions, rates will increase an average of 35-40 percent. (RFE/RL)