In Buryatia, police discovered an illegal mining farm connected to the electrical grid. This incident marks the sixth case of electricity theft for crypto mining this year.
Discovery of the Mining Farm
Utility engineers detected an unexplained load spike and, upon checking a truck, found 95 mining rigs connected to a mobile transformer and illegally tapped into a 10-kilovolt feeder. Two individuals involved sped off in an SUV before the police arrived.
Legal Restrictions
According to local grid operator Buryatenergo, this is the sixth instance of electricity theft for crypto mining uncovered this year, destabilizing rural distribution networks and leading to outages. Local regulations already prohibit mining most of the winter, from November 15 to March 15, while licensed firms can operate in only a few districts during the rest of the year.
Rise of Cybercrime
This situation reflects the general trend of mining restrictions across Russia. Last December, Moscow imposed restrictions in several regions, including Dagestan and Chechnya, and in April a year-round ban was introduced in Irkutsk. Additionally, security firm Kaspersky linked the hacker collective 'Librarian Ghouls' to a cyber attack affecting hundreds of Russian PCs, using vulnerabilities to steal passwords and mine cryptocurrencies.
Recent events highlight the growing confrontation between Russian authorities and underground mining operations, necessitating further attention and action by the government.
