In a weekend “steeped in geopolitical and symbolic significance”, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia all disconnected permanently from the Russian power grid on Saturday 8 February, merging definitively with the European energy system on Sunday 9 February.

The three countries gained their independence from the Soviet Union almost three and a half decades ago. In lockstep with the creation of a new grid linking them with the rest of the EU, they have been steadily dismantling the power lines connecting them with Russia and Belarus.

Decoupling plans gained momentum following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. After the Ukraine invasion in 2022, the Baltic states halted purchases of power from Russia but have relied on the Russian grid to control frequencies and stabilise networks to avoid outages.

The remaining transmission lines were switched off one by one during Saturday.

Said Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, “By ending the energy dependence of the Baltic states on Russia, we are leaving the aggressor without the option of using energy as a weapon against us.”