The flow of electricity between the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and Russia was officially severed Saturday morning after officials switched off the Soviet-era grid’s transmission lines and prepared to join the rest of Europe on Sunday.

The switchover to the European electricity network, which Baltic leaders said held geopolitical and symbolic significance, came more than three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union. View on

More than three decades after leaving the Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have begun to unplug from Russia's electricity grid and join the EU's network. The two-day process began on Saturday morning,

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have cut their ties to Russian electricity and hooked up to Europe's power grid in the Baltic nations' latest move towards being closer members of the European Union.

The Baltic states are set to sever ties with Russia's power grid that date back to the 1950s, and instead integrate further with the European Union, as the suspected sabotage of subsea cables has spurred efforts to strengthen regional security.

A long-planned exit from the BRELL power grid has Baltics preparing for Russian retaliation. Europe’s Baltics are bracing for cyberattacks as they plan to decouple from a Soviet-era joint power grid with Russia and Belarus in 10 days time.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined Europe's power grid Sunday, 24 hours after disconnecting the final cables linking them with the Russian electricity network on Saturday. The three Baltic countries had been connected to Moscow's power grid since Soviet days,

Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia celebrate a historic step toward full independence from Russia.