Rising protests in Russia's Far East against higher import duties on used cars may be the first visible public anger at one of the government's responses to the global financial crisis.

Thousands gathered in Russia's largest Pacific port of Vladivostok yesterday, some brandished posters critical of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and others chanted for him to resign, witnesses said.

News coverage of the protests was limited mainly to the Russian internet and some newspapers because the main state-controlled television channels did not report them.

The duty is being raised to discourage Russian consumers from buying second-hand car imports and to prop up the struggling domestic motor industry, largely based around the Volga region cities like Togliatti, home of the Lada.

Large-scale protests in Russia are rare, with rallies by opposition political groups usually attracting no more than a few hundred people. But at least 3,000 gathered yesterday, in a region where Japanese used car imports are popular.

"This kind of reaction to the suggested (car) measures could be predicted, but the scope and determination of the local people is linked to the crisis," Moscow Carnegie Centre political analyst, Masha Lipman, said.