The vehicle of four United States soldiers missing in Lithuania has been discovered submerged in water, the US army said, adding that search efforts for the soldiers were ongoing.
The soldiers went missing during a military drill during an exercise at the General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in Pabradė, a town located less than 10km (6 miles) from the border with Belarus.
Lithuanian and foreign troops, along with helicopters from the air force and the state border guard service, were deployed to search for the soldiers.
“The M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle the four missing US soldiers were operating during a training exercise has been located in Lithuania,” US Army Europe and Africa’s public affairs office said in a statement.
“The vehicle was discovered submerged in a body of water in a training area … Recovery efforts are under way,” it said.
“Search efforts for the soldiers continue,” it added.
Earlier on Wednesday the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, had told reporters that the four soldiers had been “killed”, adding that he did not know any details.
“The secretary general was referring to news reports that had just emerged. He did not confirm the death of the four US soldiers, but noted that the details remain unconfirmed,” the Nato acting spokesperson, Allison Hart, later told AFP.
The Lithuanian army said earlier there was “no evidence or information confirming the death of the troops”.
“People [are] working round the clock. Everybody remains on standby, ready to provide emergency medical support,” the Lithuanian defence minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, said on X.
Lithuanian authorities received a report about the soldiers’ disappearance on Tuesday afternoon.
US Army Europe and Africa’s public affairs office confirmed in its statement that the soldiers “were conducting scheduled tactical training at the time of the incident”.
“I would like to personally thank the Lithuanian armed forces and first responders who quickly came to our aid in our search operations,” said Lt Gen Charles Costanza, the V Corps commanding general.
More than 1,000 American troops are stationed in Lithuania on a rotational basis.
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 the Lithuanian president, Gitanas Nausėda, has been one of the most outspoken supporters of Ukraine in its fight against the forces of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
