The Baltic states on Saturday began cutting ties with Russia's power grid in order to integrate with Europe's system, a years-long process that gained urgency with Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- all former Soviet republics now in the European Union and NATO -- are leaving Russia's grid to prevent Moscow from weaponising it against them.

"We are now removing Russia's ability to use the electricity system as a tool of geopolitical blackmail," Lithuania's Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas told AFP.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas -- Estonia's former prime minister -- hailed the move on X as "a victory for freedom and European unity".

Lithuania was the first of the three Baltic countries to decouple from the Moscow-controlled electricity network, Lithuania's state-run grid operator Litgrid said Saturday.

"I can confirm that Lithuania's electricity exchange lines with Kaliningrad and Belarus were disconnected at 07:43" local time (0543 GMT), Litgrid spokesman Matas Noreika told AFP.

Estonia and Latvia were due to follow suit by 0700 GMT, he added.

Official celebrations are planned........

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