Russia already has a plan to cut down usage of foreign software by supporting local companies and applications, but President Vladimir Putin is reportedly planning to accelerate the transition by getting rid of Microsoft products as soon as possible.

And in his opinion, there’s a good reason why this should happen as soon as possible: Microsoft software can be used in the cyber war against other countries, and the United States could turn to products such as Windows and Office to infiltrate in Russia’s systems.

NBC News claims it has obtained a document from the US Homeland Security which confirms that Russian hackers used malware injected into a Microsoft Office document to shut down the Ukrainian electrical grid last year, so Vladimir Putin is afraid that a similar tactic can be used by Americans against Russia as well.

Putin is now trying to get rid of foreign software in both the government and state-controlled companies, pushing for the adoption of local solutions that can be easily controlled and looked into should any fears of spying occur.

Putin “specifically” targeting Microsoft

A senior US Intelligence source told NBC News that getting rid of Microsoft was a priority for Vladimir Putin, as he thinks the software giant could be directly tied to spying activities launched by the United States.

“Not only because they are the most prominent American company in the IT space, but they are also known to the Russian people and businesses as an easily understood collaborator with US Intelligence,” the insider said.

Microsoft has already explained that it’s not involved in any spying activities, and clearly explained that it’s not collaborating with the US government, or any other government, to inject backdoor in its software.

“We don’t spy on anyone. We don’t work with any government to spy on others and we never would,” Dominic Carr, General Manager of Public Affairs at Microsoft, said.

Getting rid of Microsoft software, however, cannot happen overnight, especially because Russia has thousands of systems running Windows and Office, but the country already has laws that force state agencies and businesses to adopt locally-developed software instead of solutions coming from overseas companies.

UPDATE, November 3: Dmitry Perskov, a spokesman for the Russian president, says giving up on foreign software completely is impossible at the moment given that local companies are yet to come up with worthy alternatives.