Four soldiers from the United States Army tragically lost their lives in Lithuania after they went missing during a training exercise near the border. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed the deaths on Wednesday, revealing that the soldiers had disappeared just a few miles from the border with Belarus.
The soldiers were part of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, which is stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia. They were last seen on Tuesday while operating an armored vehicle as part of tactical training exercises at a military site near the Lithuanian city of Pabrade, located in the eastern part of the country.
This training site is situated approximately six miles from the border with Belarus, a country that is a strong ally of Russia, according to army officials.
Rutte expressed his condolences upon hearing the tragic news. He conveyed his deepest sympathies to the families of the soldiers and to the United States. “This is still early news so we do not know the details,” he stated to reporters during his visit to Warsaw, Poland. “This is really terrible news and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones.”
Although the U.S. Army has yet to provide a detailed statement about the soldiers’ deaths, they previously expressed their gratitude to Lithuania’s armed forces for their assistance in the search and rescue efforts.
Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, the commanding general of V Corps, shared his appreciation in a statement: “I would like to personally thank the Lithuanian Armed Forces and first responders who quickly came to our aid in our search operations. It’s this kind of teamwork and support that exemplifies the importance of our partnership and our humanity regardless of what flags we wear on our shoulders.”
The 1st Armored Brigade was one of the first units deployed to NATO’s eastern flank after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The unit returned to Europe in January for a new nine-month rotation, according to reports from Stars and Stripes.
Members of the brigade regularly train in challenging and often muddy conditions across Lithuania, Poland, and other Baltic nations.
Reports from Lithuania’s media indicate that the four soldiers were riding in an M88A2 Armored Recovery Vehicle when they disappeared around 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
A large-scale search and rescue operation was launched, involving troops from Lithuania and other NATO countries. The operation also included helicopters from the Lithuanian Air Force and support from the State Border Guard Service, as reported by the Lithuanian news outlet Delfi.
By Wednesday, the search operation had made significant progress, narrowing the search area to a possible location, according to a statement from the Lithuanian military.
“The possible location of the incident has been identified, and search and rescue is underway,” said Lithuanian military spokesman Major Gintautas Ciunis in a report to Elta.
While Lithuania’s military has yet to confirm the full details of the incident, officials have expressed their appreciation for the U.S. military’s presence in the country. Giedrimas Jeglinskas, chairman of Lithuania’s National Security and Defense Committee, acknowledged the importance of the U.S. presence. “We truly appreciate and are grateful for the US presence here. We have created all the conditions for them to increase their military readiness,” he said.
Jeglinskas also addressed the occurrence of such incidents during large-scale joint military exercises. “Such events do indeed occur during large-scale joint military exercises, not only among the Americans, but also in other armies. The aim is to reduce the likelihood of such things, but such things are not impossible. If there was some kind of accident, lessons are learned, and safety requirements are increased,” he added.
This tragedy follows recent announcements by the Baltic nations about strengthening their defenses along the border with Russia and Belarus in response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and concerns about potential Russian aggression toward NATO territory.
Just days earlier, Lithuania revealed plans to join Poland in fully mining its border with both Russia and Belarus as part of a broader strategy to bolster security in the region.
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