Moscow: President Vladimir Putin appeared on Wednesday to throw his support behind a plan to isolate the Russian internet from the rest of the World Wide Web, but said the Russian government was "not even considering" censoring internet sites.

In a speech to the Russian National Security Council, Mr Putin said the plan was intended to build a backup system to keep websites in the Russian domains - those ending in .ru and .rf - online in a national emergency.

President Vladimir Putin pledges not to restrict internet access for Russians. Credit:Reuters

Mr Putin said other countries had taken to using the internet "for not only economic, but military and political goals" and said information security was a priority for the country.

The Russian news media have labelled the plan, some details of which were reported last month by Vedomosti, a Russian daily, a "kill switch" for the internet, or Russia's answer to the Great Firewall put up by the Chinese.