Russian power grid workers arrested over alleged role in illegal crypto mining

A scandal has broken out in local Russian media as seven employees from different positions at PAO Rosseti Moscow Region, part of Russia’s national grid operator Rosseti, were arrested based on allegations of enabling illegal mining operations. 

Investigators revealed that the detained employees, ranging from electricians to lead engineers, were involved in activities that allowed two illegal mining data centers to operate undetected since 2024.

The latest arrest follows recent operations where authorities have shut down illegal mining farms, including one in Transbaikalia, which had caused significant financial losses to a local mining and chemical association.

Russian police arrest illegal mining accomplices

According to local media reports, all seven employees of the power grid company who were arrested provided paid services to mining farm owners.

Some of those services include artificially lowering electricity meter readings and assisting in evading scheduled and unscheduled inspections by the authorities. They did this in exchange for monetary compensation, according to what the police said.

With their assistance, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs claims that up to two illegal cryptocurrency mining data centers located on private property in the city of Chekhov evaded detection even though they had been operating successfully since 2024, well outside the oversight of regulatory authorities.

Estimates of all the preliminary damage that has been caused by the covert assistance of energy company employees to miners is approximately 10 million rubles.

The arrest aligns with a broader ongoing crackdown in Russia on illegal crypto mining, an activity that drains a significant amount of electricity, leaving huge strains on the grid.

In the past, Rosseti had complained about this, citing losses running into the millions. And now, authorities have doubled efforts, and this arrest is a step forward in that process.

Authorities shut down other illegal mining farms

The arrests come days after the FSB and police officers shut down an illegal mining farm that caused 5 million rubles in damage to the Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Association (PIMCHO), named after E.P. Slavsky.

According to the Transbaikal Office of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the farm housed a network of cryptocurrency mining equipment connected to the PIMCU power grid, and electricity was “consumed without metering” while the actual consumption was deliberately underreported, the security officials claimed.

A search of the property turned up mining equipment that was seized, and a criminal case has been opened under Article 165, Part 2, Clause “b” of the Russian Criminal Code (causing property damage by deception or breach of trust on an especially large scale).

Earlier, Russian newspaper Kommersant, citing a draft protocol of the government commission on electric power, had reported that a year-round ban on mining is planned for 2026 in southern Buryatia and the Trans-Baikal Territory.

This is likely to curb illegal mining in those areas. However, how effective it will be remains to be seen.

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