Seized 10,000 Mining Machines: Illegal Crypto Mining Farm in Russia’s Ural Region Causes Nearly 1 Billion Rubles in Electricity Losses

Odaily reports: Authorities in Nizhny Tagil and the adjacent Kushva district of Russia’s Sverdlovsk Oblast have uncovered a large-scale illegal cryptocurrency mining farm. Hidden within an abandoned industrial complex, the facility housed approximately 10,000 mining machines. A joint operation involving the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), police, and power company officials shut down the site. Local power utility estimates place the losses from the farm’s prolonged unauthorized electricity consumption at nearly 1 billion rubles (approximately $12.7 million). Law enforcement has detained three suspects, who are currently under house arrest. They are being investigated on charges of “causing property damage through deception or abuse of trust,” which carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison. The investigation reveals that the mining operation accessed the power grid through intermediary agencies and allegedly tampered with meter data to conceal its actual electricity usage; the farm’s real consumption was roughly double its approved capacity.