Russia's Irkutsk intensifies crackdown on illegal mining, seizes over 8,000 hidden mining sites

Techub News reported, according to DL News, the state-owned power company Irkutskenergosbyt in Russia's Irkutsk region recently disclosed that it has discovered over 8,000 illegal cryptocurrency mining sites. To evade regulation, these mining farms are often disguised as chicken coops, greenhouses, forests, paper mills, or even abandoned gas stations, and frequently use agricultural electricity or electric vehicle charging as a cover, causing significant strain on the local power grid.

Since 2019, the company has filed a total of 2,170 lawsuits against illegal miners, seeking damages amounting to $18.5 million. Currently, courts have ordered fines for approximately half of the claimed amount, with some cases resolved through out-of-court settlements. To maintain grid stability, multiple regions in Russia have taken measures to shut down licensed industrial mining operations and plan to introduce artificial intelligence tools to more accurately track and combat hidden illegal mining activities.