Searchers found the vehicle. The four US soldiers who had been inside it were still missing.
US Army Europe and Africa said the M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle the men were operating had turned up submerged in a body of water inside a training area in Lithuania. “Recovery efforts are under way,” its public affairs office said, adding: “Search efforts for the soldiers continue.”
The soldiers vanished during scheduled tactical training at the General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in Pabradė, a town less than 10km (6 miles) from the border with Belarus. Lithuanian authorities got the report on Tuesday afternoon. Lithuanian and foreign troops joined the hunt, along with helicopters from the air force and the state border guard service.
Conflicting early word
On Wednesday, NATO secretary general Mark Rutte told reporters the four had been “killed”, and said he had no details. His acting spokesperson, Allison Hart, later told AFP that Rutte had been referring to news reports that had just emerged and had not confirmed any deaths. The Lithuanian army said there was “no evidence or information confirming the death of the troops.”
Lithuanian defence minister Dovilė Šakalienė wrote on X that people were “working round the clock” and that “everybody remains on standby, ready to provide emergency medical support.”
Lt Gen Charles Costanza, the V Corps commanding general, thanked Lithuania’s armed forces and first responders. “I would like to personally thank the Lithuanian armed forces and first responders who quickly came to our aid in our search operations,” he said.
US presence in the Baltics
More than 1,000 American troops are stationed in Lithuania on a rotational basis. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are all NATO members, and their relations with Russia, a key ally of Belarus, have often been cool since they declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. They worsened after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda has been among the most outspoken supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Vladimir Putin’s forces.
