The three Baltic states disconnected their electricity systems from Russia's power grid on Saturday, the region's operators said, part of a plan designed to integrate the countries more closely with the European Union and boost security.

"Goodbye Russia, goodbye Lenin," says the President of Lithuania in a recording published on his social media account. In this humorous manner, Gitanas Nausėda summed up his country's decision to disconnect from Russia's energy system.

By 9:09 a.m. on Saturday, the electricity systems of all three Baltic states had successfully disconnected from the Russian-controlled IPS/UPS system, and are now operating independently in island mode before synchronizing with the Continental European grid on Sunday.

The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania completed a switch from Russia's electricity grid to the EU's system on Sunday, severing Soviet-era ties amid heightened security after the suspected sabotage of several subsea cables and pipelines.

The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are now unplugged from Russia's electricity grid and have joined the European Union's network. Plans for the move - which have been in the works since 2007 - were seen as essential for European security and had been brought brought forward after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The three Baltic states successfully connected to the European power grid Sunday after severing Soviet-era links with Russia's network, a shift that EU chief Ursula von der Leyen hailed as "freedom from threats and blackmail".