The rescue teams drained the water from a swamp while trying to recover a armored vehicle M88 Hercules.
Rescue efforts continued on Thursday to find the four American soldiers, missing near the border of Belarus in Lithuania, after their vehicle where they were still submerged.
The armored vehicle, M88 Hercules, was located more than five meters deep, after enough water was drained from a swamp to dig, a second minister of Lithuanian defense informed dovilė Škalienė.
The minister said that “all scenarios are still considered possible” with respect to the destination of the soldiers, since it was not possible to confirm that they were still inside the vehicle.
Lithuan Public Bootcaster LRT reported that the four American soldiers and their vehicle were given as disappeared on Tuesday afternoon during a training camp of General Silvestras Žukauskas in Pabradė, a city less than 10 kilometers from the Belarus border.
According to Šakalienė, rescue efforts continued all night with water pumping and ground reinforcement to allow heavy equipment to access the site without damaging a nearby pipe.
Lithuanian authorities describe the search and rescue operation as highly complex, with the participation of “hundreds of people”, including Lithuanian and North America troops, several government agencies and private companies.
The United States ambassador to Lithuania, Kara McDonald, said that “we will not rest until they are in our troops” and thanked the government and the Lithuanian authorities for their help in recovery.
“Lithuania is an exemplary ally and we are very grateful for your help,” he said.
The death of US military personnel was confirmed by NATO general secretary Mark Rutte, but the news was later denied and clarified by the organization itself.
“The searches continue,” said NATO in a statement published in X. “We regret any confusion about the comments that @Secgenate made today.
The Baltic, Lithuania, Litonia and Estonia countries are NATO members and have had tense relations with Russia and Belarus since they declared their independence from the Soviet Union in 1990.
Relationships were even more determined when Russia launched its large -scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the Lithuanian president, Gitanas Nausėda, has been one of the most Franco European supporters in Ukraine in his effort to repel the Russian forces.
