The three Baltic republics severed their connections to the Russian power grid this morning, Reuters reported.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Energy announced that the process in the country began at 6 a.m. (Bulgarian time). Latvia and Estonia followed suit at 9 a.m.
The Baltic republics explained that their goal is to integrate their power grids with those in the European Union and strengthen their security. After conducting the relevant tests, they will synchronize their networks with that of the EU at 2 p.m. tomorrow, BTA specifies.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are former Soviet republics that in 2004 joined the European Union and NATO.
The disconnection of their electricity grids with Russia began years ago to prevent electricity from Moscow being used as a "tool for geopolitical blackmail against them," Lithuanian Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaičiūnas was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.
This process accelerated after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago. The Baltic republics have spent nearly 1.6 billion euros on the cause since 2018.
The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaia Kalas, a former Estonian prime minister, welcomed the disconnection of the Russian electricity grid as a "victory for democracy."
Lithuania's Energy Ministry told Reuters that contingency plans had been drawn up. They envisage that some large electricity consumers, such as factories, will be temporarily disconnected from the grid in the event of a power shortage, so as not to disrupt the power supply as a whole.
"We have achieved the goal we have been striving for for so long. We are now under control" the situation, Vaičiūnas told a news conference this morning, as quoted by Reuters.
For Russia, the disruption of connections means that its Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad, which borders Lithuania and Poland, is cut off from the main Russian grid. This means it will have to procure its own electricity.
Moscow has spent 100 billion rubles (just under 1 billion euros) to do so, including building several gas-fired power plants in Kaliningrad.