After an exercise in Lithuania, four US soldiers are missing. Now her tank could be found in the mud, while NATO Secretary General Rutte causes confusion with a statement.
Four US soldiers are missing in Lithuania after an exercise. As the US message announced in the EU and NATO country, they were most recently in Pabrade in the east of the country near the border with Belarus. It was relatives of the 1st brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, wrote the message on the short message service X.
According to the European Command Center of the US Army in Wiesbaden, the soldiers belonged to an infantry brigade and carried out a planned tactical training at the time of their disappearance.
Tanks discovered in water
The four US soldiers were no longer found after an exercise and have been missing since Tuesday afternoon. The Lithuanian military and the police had started a search together with the US military. Your armored vehicle – an M88 Hercules Mountain Pancer – has now been found in a body of water on the practice area
According to Lithuania's Minister of Defense Dovile Sakaliene, the tons -heavy military vehicle is about five meters deep in the mud. “We cannot confirm whether soldiers are in the vehicle,” said the minister, who, like Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, made her way to the practice site located at a good 50 kilometers northeast of the capital of Vilnius. “Until we see the vehicle, all scenarios are considered possible.”
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Sakaliene reports on the death of the soldiers. “There are currently no confirmed information and no corpses have been found.” Therefore, it is simply wrong to say that the soldiers are dead.
Lithuania's army chief Raimundas Vaiksnoras said that the search and salvage campaign was technically very complex and takes place in a swamp area that is still being drained. The vehicle has sunk so deeply that it could not even be reached with metal bars. In addition to the water, a gas line also runs, he said.
US representative speaks of accident
A representative of the US government who wanted to remain anonymous told the AP news agency that the four soldiers were involved in a training accident. US defense minister Pete Hegseth wrote on the platform X that the four soldiers were missing. You won't rest until they were found.
Since 2014, the United States has been moving units for maneuvers to Lithuania and the NATO east border in the rotation process. According to Lithuania, a US battalion is currently stationed in a Pabrade.
Rutte causes confusion
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said during a visit to the Polish capital of Warsaw that he was in the thoughts of the families. He does not yet know the details, said Rutte, who initially assumed that the four soldiers were killed.
NATO said that the confusion that had donated the statements of Rutte was said about X shortly afterwards. “He referred to new news reports and did not confirm the fate of the missing person who is still unknown,” said the explanation.
