Baltic countries disconnected from Russia's power grid

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania disconnected their energy systems from Russia's electric power grid on Feb. 8 in "another historic day for European integration," the Estonian Foreign Ministry said.

"This legacy of occupation meant that Moscow - which uses energy as a weapon - had control of the frequency," the ministry said in a statement on X.

"That’s a critical element in maintaining reliable power supply. That dependency ends today!"

The Lithuanian Energy Ministry said in July 2024 that the Baltic countries would fully synchronize with the continental European electricity grid in February 2025.  

Earlier in February, Latvian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas said in an interview that his country is ready for technical difficulties and possible sabotages during the synchronization process.

Ukraine also disconnected itself from the Russian energy grid in February 2022, when Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.

"We stopped buying electricity & gas from Russia right after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine," the Estonian Foreign Ministry said in its Feb. 8 statement.

"By making our whole energy system independent of Russia, the Kremlin loses another lever of power to use against Europe."

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The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov