Leave it to the Russians to return to Cold War-era document security tactics.

According to the Agence France Presse and the Moscow Times, the agency in charge of securing communications from the Kremlin now wants to spend 486,000 rubles (about $14,800) to buy 20 electric typewriters... as a way to avoid digital leaks.

The Russian newspaper Izvestia (Google Translate) noted that the government already favors (Google Translate) the German-made Triumph-Adler Twen 180 model. (Although if the Kremlin is paying $740 each, it might want to consult German shopping websites—at least one is only charging $162.)

"After scandals with the distribution of secret documents by WikiLeaks, the exposés by Edward Snowden, reports about Dmitry Medvedev being listened in on during his visit to the G20 summit in London, it has been decided to expand the practice of creating paper documents," the Russian newspaper quoted an unnamed FSO source as saying. Izvestia also noted that each typewriter can link a particular typed document to the machine that produced it.

But it’s unclear if the renewed interest is actually a response to recent events.

"This purchase has been planned for more than a year now," a source at the service, known by its Russian acronym FSO, told the AFP on Thursday.