Ordering a shutdown across 13 regions and going after about 50,000 people. This is the strictest move the government’s made since it signed off on mining back in August 2024.
The ban isn’t just a quick fix for cold weather spikes—it stretches all the way to 2031 and covers the busiest mining months every year. Looks like Moscow’s patience for miners straining the power grid has finally snapped.
The problem’s electricity, plain and simple. In parts of Siberia, officials say the grid’s running a deficit of almost 3,000 megawatts, mostly because miners have been chasing cheap, state-subsidized power. That’s not a small blip; it’s a real energy crunch, and Russian authorities are treating it like a full-blown emergency.
