GLOBAL TODAY

Tag: Lithuania

  • Last US soldier who went missing in Lithuania found dead

    VILNIUS – The last of the four American soldiers who went missing in Lithuania last week was on Tuesday also found dead, the US Army said, without providing additional details.

    The three other soldiers were found dead on Monday after rescuers recovered their M88 Hercules armored vehicle from a swamp.

    Hundreds of local and foreign troops and others including engineers and divers had been involved in the operation.

    Lithuanian authorities received a report last Tuesday that the soldiers went missing during a military drill at a training ground in the eastern city of Pabrade, near the border with Belarus.

    “The fourth US Army Soldier… was found deceased near Pabrade, Lithuania the afternoon of April 1,” US Army Europe and Africa’s public affairs office said in a statement.

    “The Soldier’s identity is being withheld pending confirmation of notification of next of kin,” it added.

    The army did not specify where exactly the soldier was found.
    Hundreds of people gathered at the US embassy in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on Tuesday evening to pay their respects to the four soldiers, who had been in Lithuania for two months.

    Carrying US flags, people laid flowers, lit candles and held a minute of silence for the soldiers.

    Lithuania’s defense ministry expressed “deep sorrow” over the death.

    “We extend our condolences to the families of all four soldiers lost in this tragic accident and thank all those involved in the search efforts,” it added on social network X.

    US defense secretary Pete Hegseth thanked the “brave servicemembers who enabled this difficult recovery and to our Lithuanian hosts.”

    “The recovery was conducted with urgency, resolve and deep respect for the fallen,” he said on X.

    “We will never forget these soldiers — and our prayers are with their families.”

    Lithuania, a NATO and EU member, hosts more than 1,000 American troops stationed on a rotational basis.

    AN-AFP, 1.4.2025

  • Lithuania prepares schools for incoming German troops’ children

    VILNIUS, March 29 – As Germany prepares to deploy troops to Lithuania by 2027, Vilnius is setting up schools for their children.

    The first 100 students are expected to arrive in September, with numbers possibly reaching 600.

    The move is part of broader plans to support several thousand German troops stationed in Lithuania.

    XINHUA

  • Lithuania says ‘long night ahead’ in US soldiers search

    US Army soldiers walk while recovery efforts continue for four missing US soldiers near the spot where their Hercules armored vehicle was found submerged at a training range in Pabrade, north of the capital Vilnius, Mar. 28, 2025. (AP)

    PABRADE, Lithuania – Lithuania’s defense minister said on Friday that rescuers faced “another long night” in their operation to recover the submerged vehicle of four missing US soldiers.

    Authorities from the Baltic state received a report on Tuesday that the soldiers had disappeared during a military drill on a training ground in the eastern city of Pabrade, near the border with Belarus.

    Search and rescue teams were at the scene on Friday, using heavy military equipment and excavators to remove silt from the body of water where the vehicle had been located.

    “Another long night ahead,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene said on social network X.

    The Lithuanian army said earlier they were “moving forward” on their goal to “turn the swamp into water so divers can jump in.”

    The US army said on Friday it was sending a specialized US Navy dive crew that was “expected to arrive on site within the next 24 hours.”

    Local and foreign troops, along with helicopters from the air force and the state border guard service, have been deployed in the search effort.

    Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said he was “still hoping for a miracle.”

    “Although many skeptics would probably say that there is nothing to hope for in these circumstances, I want to believe,” he told reporters.

    The M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle the missing US soldiers had been operating was found several meters deep in a swamp connected to a nearby lake.

    “The area around the site is incredibly wet and marshy and doesn’t support the weight of the equipment,” US Army Europe and Africa’s public affairs office said in a statement.

    “Draining the area has been slow and difficult due to ground water seepage,” it added.

    “This will be a long and difficult recovery operation, but we are absolutely committed to bringing our soldiers home,” said Curtis Taylor, Commanding General of the 1st Armored Division.

    The main goal was to remove the mud from the submerged vehicle and identify possible attachment points for extraction, Lithuanian Armed Forces chief General Raimundas Vaiksnoras said.

    Lithuania, a NATO and EU member, hosts more than 1,000 American troops stationed on a rotational basis.

    AN-AFP, 28.3.2025

  • Death of missing US soldiers in Lithuania not confirmed: NATO

    ISTANBUL – NATO on Wednesday clarified the secretary-general’s earlier remarks about the missing US soldiers in Lithuania, saying that their deaths have not been confirmed.

    “We regret any confusion about remarks Secretary-General Mark Rutte delivered on this today. He was referring to emerging news reports & was not confirming the fate of the missing, which is still unknown,” NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart wrote on X.

    She noted that the search for the missing soldiers still continues.

    US President Donald Trump said that he was not briefed about the missing soldiers.

    When asked Wednesday if he had been briefed on the situation that began unfolding hours earlier, Trump said: “No, I haven’t.”

    On Tuesday, four US Army soldiers went missing during a routine training exercise in the Baltic nation of Lithuania.

    A multinational search operation is currently underway in eastern Pabrade city near the capital Vilnius, according to the US Army Europe and Africa command’s public affairs office.

    The vehicle of the soldiers was then found submerged in water, the US Army said Wednesday.

    US forces routinely participate in joint training exercises with NATO allies in Lithuania, a small country with a population of some 1.9 million situated between Russia and the Baltic Sea.

    ANADOLU, 27.3.2025

  • NATO chief confirms death of 4 US soldiers who went missing in Lithuania

    GENEVA – NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday confirmed that four American soldiers who went missing during training in Lithuania on Tuesday have been killed.

    “Whilst I was speaking, the news came out about four American soldiers who were killed in an incident in Lithuania,” Rutte told reporters in Warsaw.

    He added that the details of the incident, which he called “terrible news,” are still unclear.

    “Our thoughts are with families and loved ones,” he added.

    Earlier, the Lithuanian Armed Forces said a report was received on Tuesday about four US soldiers and one tracked vehicle missing during a training exercise in eastern Lithuania.

    Lithuanian and foreign troops, as well as helicopters, were deployed to search for the missing.

    ANADOLU, 26.3.2025