Dagestan under attack: 52 illegal mining farms eliminated, damage to power grids exceeds 129 million rubles
A large-scale crackdown on the shadow cryptocurrency mining sector in Dagestan has yielded impressive results. Since the beginning of 2026, specialists from the energy company "Rosseti Severny Kavkaz" have managed to detect and neutralize 52 illegal mining farms. During the operational measures, 968 units of equipment for digital asset mining were seized. This is not just about administrative violations — five criminal cases have already been opened for electricity theft.
The figures I see in this statistics speak eloquently to the systemic nature of the problem. Underground farms account for about 2.7 million kilowatt-hours of stolen energy resources. At the same time, one court verdict has already been handed down, while the remaining cases are under investigation jointly with the republic's law enforcement agencies.
Damage That Hits Everyone's Pocket
The total damage inflicted on the region's power grid complex has exceeded 129 million rubles. Since the beginning of the year, energy workers have recorded 952 cases of unmetered electricity consumption, totaling more than 20.1 million kilowatt-hours. Notably, mining accounts for over 13% of the total stolen energy resources — a serious indicator of how deeply shadow mining has penetrated the region's economy.
It is worth recalling that electricity theft is not just a financial loss for the company. It leads to voltage fluctuations in the grid, breakdowns of household appliances, technological disruptions, and — worst of all — fires. The main danger is the risk of sustaining a serious electrical injury or death. Unauthorized connection to grids carries fines of up to 15,000 rubles for individuals and up to 200,000 rubles for legal entities. In the event of a repeat violation, the amounts increase significantly, and criminal liability for electricity theft provides for up to two years of imprisonment.
Miners Retreat to Forests and Apiaries
Dagestan remains one of the most problematic regions for underground mining. In June, energy workers eliminated a farm of 90 devices with a total capacity of about 315 kW in the village of Maydanskoye — the equipment was hidden under a false floor and connected to the grids without a contract. Similar schemes operate in other parts of the country. In the village of Stolbova, Irkutsk district, police found 12 units of equipment under a camouflage net in a forest area, connected directly to a power line pole. The preliminary damage there exceeded 2.5 million rubles.
The ingenuity of violators knows no bounds. A resident of the Tyumen region discovered a crypto farm on her dacha plot and initially mistook the equipment for beehives due to the characteristic appearance of the enclosures. The regional police department is conducting a check into this incident.
The general logic is the same: electricity costs determine the profitability of mining, so underground operators seek connection points away from metering. Legal sites lose on cost efficiency.
Energy workers continue raids jointly with the police. The number of detected facilities in less than eight months shows that the scale of the problem in the republic persists. This is a signal for investors: until order is restored in the power supply, the risk of working with Dagestani miners will remain extremely high.
My expert view: Shadow mining is not just an economic crime, but a direct threat to the stability of entire regions' energy systems. As long as the cost of electricity for industrial miners remains significantly higher than the possibility of stealing it, underground schemes will thrive. The solution lies not only in criminal prosecution, but also in creating transparent and accessible conditions for legal mining in energy-surplus regions.