A US armoured vehicle, missing for six days, has been recovered from a Lithuanian swamp, but the fate of the four American soldiers on board remains unknown.
The vehicle was retrieved early Monday morning, according to Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė.
The soldiers disappeared along with their vehicle during a training exercise at the General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in Pabradė early last Tuesday, the US army confirmed. Lithuanian Military Police and US investigators are continuing their work at the scene.
"The armored vehicle was pulled ashore at 4:40 a.m., the towing operation is complete, Lithuanian Military Police and US investigators continue their work,” Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė said Monday morning in a post on Facebook.
Map of Pabradė:
“Until the investigators have more details, we need to stay calm and focused, and keep in mind the sensitivity of the situation and the concerns of the soldiers’ families,” Šakalienė added.
She made clear to reporters that the first information about fate of the soldiers will be delivered by the U.S. army.
The soldiers, all from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, were conducting tactical training when they went missing.
Hundreds of Lithuanian and U.S. soldiers and rescuers took part in the search through the thick forests and swampy terrain around Pabradė, which lies just 10 kilometers (6 miles) west of the border with Belarus. The M88 Hercules armored vehicle was discovered on Wedneday submerged in 4.5 meters (15 feet) of water.
A large-scale recovery operation got underway but “water, thick mud and soft ground around the site have complicated recovery efforts and have required specialized equipment to drain water from the side and stabilize the ground” in order to pull the 70-ton vehicle ashore, the army said.
Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT originally reported that four soldiers and vehicle were reported missing Tuesday afternoon during an exercise at the General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in Pabradė, a town located less than six 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.
