According to reports, Russian police have seized around 2,700 crypto mining equipment from a site in St. Petersburg after a months-long probe into unusually low meter readings.
The haul included banks of machines, fans and other cooling gear, and the authorities say they also took away two transformers.
Large Crypto Mining Rigs Seizure In St. Petersburg
Investigators say the operation started after energy inspectors noticed inconsistencies between recorded meter figures and actual power use.
The site had been connected to the grid since March 2018. It ran, according to officials, until August 2025. Police say three unnamed St. Petersburg residents had originally signed a contract to connect a commercial property to the grid more than seven years ago.
Russian police officers forced their way into a container filled with hundreds of active crypto mining machines during the raid, according to footage shared by the Interior Ministry on Telegram.
Officers released video of the raid on a ministry Telegram channel. The footage shows police forcing open locked containers and pushing a man to the floor as they searched the premises.
In one container, rows of active machines could be seen, with fans running and cooling systems in place. Other rooms held hundreds more rigs.
Meter Tampering And Charges
Based on reports from the Interior Ministry, investigators believe the suspects used technical knowledge of the power grid to alter meter readings so the utility would show much lower consumption than was actually used.
BTCUSD trading at $121,967 on the 24-hour chart: TradingView
The suspects behind the illegal crypto mining rig operation were placed in custody and charged with causing “property damage by deception or abuse of trust,” prosecutors said.
The ministry has not released an estimate of how much electricity was taken or the financial value of the theft. Officials also did not say which digital coins were being mined at the site. Police added they are still looking for possible accomplices linked to the operation.
Smaller Networks Found In Other Regions
This seizure follows similar discoveries across Russia and territories under Moscow’s control. In mid-September, authorities uncovered an illegal cluster in what Moscow calls the Donetsk People’s Republic where operators had connected 25 rigs directly to the grid, bypassing meters. Officials reported damage estimated at 14 million rubles ($170,633) for that network.
In other areas, hidden setups have appeared underground or inside trucks and vans. Regions mentioned by officials include Dagestan, parts of the North Caucasus and Southern Siberia — places where cheap or poorly monitored power has sometimes attracted clandestine miners.
Featured image from Protos, chart from TradingView
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