Lithuanian forces said four US soldiers and a pursuit vehicle were missing on Tuesday afternoon.
The U.S. Army said the armored vehicle used by four missing soldiers in Lithuania was found to be submerged in waters as efforts to search the missing troops continue.
In a statement Wednesday, the Army said: “The M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle was run by four missing US troops during a training exercise in Lithuania.”
The Army’s comments came after NATO Executive Director General Mark Latte told a press conference in Warsaw, Poland that four soldiers had been killed in the “incident.”
“This is just early news, so we don’t know the details. This is really terrible news and our idea is with family and loved ones,” Latte said.
NATO spokesman Allison Hart later revealed Latte’s comments, saying a search for the four was underway and he apologized for the confusion that caused it.
“The search is ongoing,” Hart said in a statement posted to X.
“We regret the confusion about @secgennato’s remarks that were delivered about this today. He was referring to new news reports and not confirming his missing fate.
A search is underway for four American soldiers who went missing during a military exercise in Lithuania. I regret the confusion about @secgennato @secgennato that was delivered about this today. He had mentioned new news reports and had not confirmed his missing fate, but is still unknown.
– NATO spokesman (@natopress) March 26, 2025
Lithuanian forces also said a search is underway for the four US troops and chasing vehicles that went missing Tuesday afternoon.
The military later wrote in X, and wrote that it was continuing its “intensive” rescue operations without confirming the death of US officials.
According to a US military statement, the soldiers were trained near a publade in eastern Lithuania, near the border with Belarus.
“Soldiers from the 1st Brigade 1 were conducting tactical training scheduled at the time of the incident,” the Army statement read.
The Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are all members of NATO and have often had chilly ties with Belarus’ important ally Russia since it declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1990.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, relations became even more sour, with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda being one of Ukraine’s most outspoken supporters in the fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army.
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