Russia and Ukraine shut down illegal crypto mining farms
Authorities in Russia and Ukraine have stopped the operation of several underground crypto mining facilities discovered in capital cities Kyiv and Moscow, and the Russian Republic of Dagestan.
Russian law enforcement uncovered the illegal use of stolen electricity worth over 500,000 rubles (over US$7,000) per day of use from the system run by Rosseti in Moscow Oblast, the region near Russia’s capital. A criminal case has been launched with authorities intending to prosecute the facility owners.
“An audit revealed an unauthorised connection to the power grid, theft of electricity and illegal seizure of land for the operation of equipment designed to perform cryptographic calculations related to the mining of digital currencies,” said Ekaterina Korotkova from the Moscow Interregional Transport Prosecutor’s Office to Tass.
Two more illegal crypto farms were also discovered in Dagestan located in the North Caucasus.
In a similar set of circumstances, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced its discover of an illegal mining site in Kyiv Oblast, allegedly using electrical energy worth 3.5 million hryvnia (over US$128,000). Ukrainian law enforcement have revealed that three local residents installed several Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) in a rented bunker in the Buchansky district near the nation’s capital.
Bitcoin mining is unregulated in the Ukraine and the rising popularity of cryptocurrency across the country have stood the nation as a world leader in adoption in recent years.
