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".