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.

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have officially disconnected their electricity systems from Russia's as the Baltic countries seek closer ties with the European Union and better national security.The move symbolises their desire to sever all ties with, and gain energy independence from, Moscow.Officials switched off the Soviet-era grid's transmission lines on Saturday, they said, and, after the Baltic Power System operates independently for 24 hours, they will join the European energy networks on Sunday afternoon through several links with Finland, Sweden, and Poland.Lithuania's energy minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas told reporters the Baltic energy system "is finally in our hands, we are in full control".Mr Vaiciunas added: "We've reached the goal we strived for, for so long."The three states were formerly part of the Soviet Union and controlled by the Kremlin, but gained independence in the early 1990s, following the Communist bloc's collapse.The long process of freeing themselves from Moscow began after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are all staunch supporters of Ukraine and stopped buying energy from Russia after President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion in 2022.To that end they have spent around €1.6bn (£1.3bn) upgrading their grids, while Moscow has spent 100 billion roubles (£806,000), boosting its Kaliningrad exclave, located between Lithuania, Poland and the Baltic Sea, which is cut off from Russia's main grid.Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna confirmed the aim of freeing themselves from Russian influence, saying ending the energy dependence of the Baltic states on Russia meant they are "leaving the aggressor without the option of using energy as a weapon against us".Reliable power supplies are easier to maintain with a stable grid frequency, which experts say grows more readily over time in a large synchronised area such as Russia or continental Europe, rather than in a smaller region such as the Baltic.Latvian Energy Minister Kaspars Melnis said the system was stable and "the process is happening smoothly, no one is noticing that something changed".Russia, which was formally notified of the impending disconnection last year, has been accused of sabotaging underwater cables in the Baltic Sea region by ships dragging anchors along the seabed.A series of apparent attacks have caused power cable, telecom links, and gas pipeline outages between the Baltics andSweden or Finland.Read more:Ukraine offers Trump minerals dealIsrael-Hamas prisoner exchange latestCost of being single revealedRussia has denied culpability and on Monday, Swedish officials said a vessel that broke an undersea fibre optic cable between Latvia and Sweden last month did not do it deliberately.On Saturday, Ukraine's air force said it shot down 67 of 139 Russian drones launched overnight, while another 71 disappeared from radar without reaching their targets.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv's forces launched a new series of assaults in Kursk on Friday, six months after a raid into the region shocked the Kremlin.Mr Zelenskyy said they killed a "significant number" of enemy troops, adding Russian losses were in the hundreds.Ukrainian troops advanced up to 5km (3 miles) behind Russian lines southeast of Sudzha, the Institute for the Study of War think tank said.

More than 30 years after leaving the Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania will join the EU's grid.