A search is underway after four US Army soldiers disappeared during a training exercise outside Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, the US military announced on Wednesday.
The soldiers were participating in scheduled tactical training when they went missing, according to a statement released by the US Army Europe and Africa public affairs office in Wiesbaden, Germany.
The US embassy in Vilnius also confirmed the soldiers were missing.
The embassy said: “The soldiers, all from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, were conducting scheduled tactical training at the time of the incident,” it said. “Search and recovery efforts are underway.”
The military has assured the public that further updates will be provided as new information emerges.
Lithuania’s armed forces said in a statement they were informed on Tuesday that four US soldiers and one tracked vehicle were missing.
“A possible location of the incident has been identified and a search and rescue operation is underway.”
Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reported that four soldiers and vehicle were reported missing Tuesday afternoon during an exercise at the General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in Pabradė, a town located less than six miles from the border with Belarus.
The Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are all Nato members and have often had chilly ties with Russia, a key ally of Belarus, since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1990.
Relations soured further over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has been one of the most outspoken supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces.
