St Petersburg (Russia), Jan. 15 (Reuters): At least 15,000 pensioners blocked the centre of St Petersburg today to protest against changes to the state benefit system in the largest demonstration in Russia?s second city for a decade.

Under a new law, many pensioners receive cash instead of the right to benefits such as free travel and medical care. But they say the payments of $15-$100 a month are too small to make up for the lost perks, a mainstay of retirement since Soviet times.

?They should let people live and die with dignity,? said pensioner Larisa Sergeyevna. ?The pension is too small, and now they?ve taken everything away. They?ve ripped us off and now we?re penniless.?

The protest, which follows a week of similar actions elsewhere in Russia, began outside government offices where President Vladimir Putin?s career began and swelled to numbers not seen in the city since a 1993 political crisis.