US army reports four soldiers missing in Lithuania training area

US army reports four soldiers missing in Lithuania training area
Military officials say soldiers were conducting scheduled tactical training outside Vilnius.
Four US army soldiers have gone missing at a training area outside of Lithuania’s capital, and a search is under way, the US military said on Wednesday.

A statement from the US army’s Europe and Africa public affairs office in Wiesbaden, Germany, said the soldiers were conducting scheduled tactical training at the time.
“A possible scene has now been identified, and a search and rescue operation is underway,” the Lithuanian military said in a statement.

It said further information would be provided as new information becomes available.

The Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reported that four US soldiers and a vehicle were reported missing on Tuesday afternoon 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.

The Baltic countries of 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 Russian president, Vladimir Putin’s, forces.