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.

The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are bracing themselves for possible retaliation as they decouple from Russia’s power grid this weekend.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined Europe's power grid Sunday, 24 hours after disconnecting the final cables linking them with the Russian electricity network on Saturday. The three Baltic countries had been connected to Moscow's power grid since Soviet days, along with Belarus and the tiny Russian enclave Kaliningrad.

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.