In Lithuanese The search for four missing US soldiers continues. “All scenarios are still being checked,” said Defense Minister Dovile sakaliene On the Pabrade military training area and reports about the death of the soldiers.
“There are currently no confirmed information and no corpses were found. So it would simply be wrong to say that the soldiers are dead.”
Only found tanks
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 therefore started a search together with the US military, in which its armored vehicle – an M88 Hercules Mountains – was found in a water on the practice area. Pabrade is located directly on the NATO east flank to Belarus.
Sakaliene: tank is about five meters deep in the mud
According to Sakaliene, the tons of 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.”
According to reports of Lithuanian media, the soldiers are said to have died in an accident. There was initially no official confirmation for this. US defense minister Pete Hegseth wrote on the platform X that the four soldiers were missing. You won’t rest until they were found.
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.
Rutte causes confusion
NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte In the meantime, with statements on the edge of a visit to Poland, caused confusion that the four US soldiers were killed. A NATO spokeswoman moved this out later and wrote on platform X that Rutte referred to new news reports with his statements and not to the not confirmed fate of the missing.
According to the European Command Center of the US Army in Wiesbaden, the soldiers belong to an infantry brigade and carried out a planned tactical training at the time of their disappearance. Since 2014, the United States has been moving units for maneuvers to the Baltic State of Lithuania and the NATO-East border. According to Lithuania, a US battalion is currently stationed in a Pabrade.