Putin calls emergency cybersecurity meeting amid rising tensions with Europe

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to hold an emergency cybersecurity meeting with Kremlin top officials on Wednesday, calling it one of the most pressing issues.

The meeting comes as Russia is in crossfire as Europe accused Moscow of waging escalated hybrid attacks against European countries in coming months. At the same time, Russian data centers have been under attack from Ukraine’s side.

It is also reported that a spate of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian data centers has prompted Putin to call a meeting over the cybersecurity issue. However, the Kremlin denied this.

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told ​reporters, "Artificial intelligence technologies bring many benefits and ⁠advantages, boosting efficiency. But at the same ​time, of course, attempts by various states to ​weaponize these new technologies... pose threats to entire sectors of any country's economy."

"Naturally, we are no exception, and we ​must be prepared for these challenges. That is why ‌the ⁠president is holding this meeting today."

According to Peskov, the attendees will include government ministers, senior security officials, Sberbank’s chief executive, and Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina.

Peskov clarified that the upcoming high-level meeting is unrelated to the recent Ukrainian drone strikes that targeted four Russian data centers, three operated by tech firm Yandex and one by Sberbank.

"No, this is a much more systemic meeting. It is not connected to those specific, isolated attacks," Peskov stated.