The cool kids these days are spinning vinyl discs on antique record players, and the analogue fightback may have made its way to the very top, according to a report that says the Kremlin is returning to typewriters in an attempt to avoid damaging leaks from computer hardware.

The Telegraph newspaper reports that an order has been placed for German-made Triumph Adler Twen 180 typewriters, models that were popular in the late '80s and early '90s

It claims a source at Russia's Federal Guard Service (FSO), which is in charge of safeguarding Kremlin communications and protecting President Vladimir Putin, claimed that the return to typewriters has been prompted by the publication of secret documents by WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowing website, as well as Edward Snowden, the fugitive US intelligence contractor.

The FSO is looking to spend 486,000 roubles – around $A16,000 – on manual typewriters

The  Izvestiya newspaper reports: “After scandals with the distribution of secret documents by WikiLeaks, the exposes 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.”

Unlike printers, every typewriter has its own individual pattern of type so it is possible to link every document to a machine used to type it.