VILNIUS, Lithuania — Four American soldiers have gone missing during a training exercise in eastern Lithuania, prompting a joint search operation involving U.S. and Lithuanian forces, the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius said on Wednesday.
The soldiers, assigned to the U.S. Army’s 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, disappeared during a scheduled tactical training exercise near the town of Pabrade, close to the border with Belarus, according to the embassy’s statement on X, formerly Twitter. The timing of their disappearance was not disclosed.
“Search and recovery efforts are underway,” the embassy said, adding that the soldiers were participating in routine exercises at the time of the incident.
Lithuania’s Armed Forces confirmed the report in a separate statement, saying they had been notified on Tuesday that four U.S. soldiers and a tracked vehicle were unaccounted for.
“A possible location of the incident has been identified and a search and rescue operation is underway,” the Lithuanian military said.
The incident comes amid heightened military activity across NATO’s eastern flank, where U.S. and allied forces regularly conduct joint exercises in response to growing regional security concerns.
