DAILY STAR
Mystery surrounds the four US troops who are understood to have died on a training mission in Lithuania. The soldiers disappeared around 4.45pm yesterday near the Belarus border, a key Putin ally in Europe.
A search operation was launched to find the tracked vehicle they were travelling in. The Embassy in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius has yet to confirm the deaths, only releasing a statement confirming the four soldiers were missing.
A “possible location” of where they are believed to have disappeared has been identified during the search, carried out by both Lithuanian and US assets. Helicopters from the Air Force and State Border Guard Service had also been sent out to locate the missing military personnel.
Here is everything we know about the situation:
NATO chief’s comments
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said during a trip to Warsaw that he had received word of the deaths of the four soldiers while he was delivering a lecture, and that his thoughts were with their families and with the United States.
“This is still early news so we do not know the details. This is really terrible news and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones,” Rutte told reporters in Warsaw.
A statement from U.S. Army Europe and Africa public affairs in Wiesbaden, Germany said the soldiers were conducting scheduled tactical training at the time.
Local media
Major Gintautas Ciunis, spokesman for the Lithuanian Armed Forces confirmed to local media that the missing soldiers were “foreign” but did not disclose further details.
Lithuanian police have reportedly been informed and are now attempting to clarify the circumstances surrounding the soldiers.
Chairman of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence, Giedrimas Jeglinskas said: “There is a request from the military and the forces that were conducting the drills to exercise discretion at this time and not to make any comments.
“Let’s be respectful. The police and all the elements that have to be involved are involved, these investigations are involved.”
The soldiers belong to the 1st Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division and were participating in “scheduled tactical training at the time of the incident”, according to the US Military.
Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reported that four U.S. soldiers and vehicle were reported missing Tuesday afternoon during an exercise at the General Silvestras *ukauskas training ground in Pabrad*, a town located less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with Belarus.
US reaction
A U.S. official would say only that the four soldiers were involved in a training accident. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would not comment on the status of the soldiers.
President Donald Trump was asked by a reporter if he had been briefed on the four reportedly dead soldiers. He responded: “No, I haven’t.”
What Lithuania military said
The Lithuanian Armed Forces said today: “Currently, the possible location of the incident has been identified and a search and rescue operation is underway, led by the Lithuanian Armed Forces, with additional capabilities from the Fire Protection and Rescue Department and other institutions.”