The three Baltic states disconnected their electricity systems from Russia's power grid on February 8, the region's operators said.
In doing so, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have severed their link to a Soviet-era electricity transmission grid that connects Russia, Belarus, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
The three EU members are due to join the synchronous grid of Continental Europe -- which includes most European countries, from Portugal in the west to Ukraine and Turkey in the east -- as part of a plan to integrate the countries more closely with the European Union and boost security.
SEE ALSO: Wider Europe Briefing: Historic Shift As Baltic States Join European Power GridEuropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will speak at a ceremony on February 9 to mark the switch to the EU system, her office said on February 7.
"We've reached the goal we for strived for, for so long. We are now in control," Lithuanian Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas told a news conference.
Immediately after disconnecting, Latvian workers used a crane to reach the high-voltage wires in Vilaka, 100 meters from the Russian border, and cut them. They handed out chopped wire as keepsakes to cheering observers.
"We will never use it again. We are moving on," Latvian Energy Minister Kaspars Melnis said.
Plans for the Baltics to decouple from the IPS/UPS transmission grid had been debated for decades, but gained momentum following Moscow's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The grid was the final remaining link to Russia for the three countries, which reemerged as independent nations in the early 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union and joined the European Union and NATO in 2004.
Some 1.6 billion euros ($1.65 billion) have been invested in the project to synchronize the power systems of the Baltic countries and Poland.