Dagestani power engineers thwarted an attempt to connect an illegal mining farm to the grid.

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During a raid in Makhachkala, power engineers discovered 76 mining machines in an apartment building that were planned to be connected to the power grid.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", Dagestani power engineers reported last November that they had uncovered 73 cases of electricity theft by mining farms over 11 months, the total damage from which amounted to 85.7 million rubles.

Acting Director of the North Caucasus branch of PJSC Rosseti - On January 5, Magomedshapi Shapiev, head of Dagenergo, reported on his Telegram channel that an attempt to establish an illegal mining farm had been "thwarted" in Makhachkala.

According to him, during a raid to detect unauthorized electricity consumption, power engineers thwarted an attempt to illegally connect mining equipment to the power grid at 10, Building 6, Sergokalinskaya Street.

Seventy-six mining machines were found in this multi-story building. "The attempted illegal connection was promptly identified and stopped," Sharipov added, noting that the materials on this incident have been forwarded to the appropriate authorities.

As a reminder, authorities in southern Russia have repeatedly highlighted the problem with mining farms. In particular, on December 16, 2024, the head of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, signed an appeal to the Russian government requesting a ban on cryptocurrency mining in the republic given the growing load on the power grid.

The government approved the introduction of a ban on cryptocurrency mining in six republics of the North Caucasus - Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, and Chechnya - effective January 1.

In April 2021, the Council of Ulama of Ingushetia banned Muslims from buying and selling cryptocurrencies due to the lack of legal guarantees for their owners. Blockchain technologies are permitted from a Sharia perspective, but each cryptocurrency "needs to be approached individually," as Islamic authorities have differing opinions on them, Rashit Tugushev, a member of the Ulema Council at the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia, told the "Caucasian Knot."