OAN Staff James Meyers
11:47 AM – Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Four U.S. Army soldiers have been reportedly killed in Lithuania after performing NATO exercises, Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte announced on Wednesday.
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The four soldiers from the 1st Armored Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, based out of Fort Stewart, Georgia, were last seen on Tuesday riding in an armored vehicle during tactical training exercises at a military site in Pabrade, which is part of eastern Lithuania.
The training took place only six miles from the border with Belarus, who is a Russian ally, Army personnel said.
“I would like to personally thank the Lithuanian Armed Forces and first responders who quickly came to our aid in our search operations,” Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, V Corps commanding general, said in a statement. “It’s this kind of teamwork and support that exemplifies the importance of our partnership and our humanity regardless of what flags we wear on our shoulders.”
Rutte said he had received word of the deaths of the four soldiers and extended his thoughts and prayers to their families and the United States.
“This is still early news so we do not know the details,” he told reporters while on a visit to Poland’s capital, Warsaw. “This is really terrible news and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones.”
The U.S. Army has not yet released a statement on the soldiers’ deaths, but gave praise and appreciation to Lithuania’s armed forces for helping with the search and rescue mission.
When the war between Russia and Ukraine commenced, the 1st Armored Brigade was one of the first units deployed to the NATO allies country. The unit returned to Europe in January to start another nine-month rotation, according to Stars and Stripes.
According to Lithuanian media, the four soldiers were traveling in an M88A2 Armored-Recovery Vehicle when they disappeared at around 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
A major search and resume operation was deployed involving military from Lithuania and other NATO countries, as well as Lithuanian Air Force helicopters and Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service, according to Lithuanian outlet Delfi.
Additionally, the Lithuanian military said that they had narrowed down a credible search location as of Wednesday — with help from Lithuania’s Fire Protection and Rescue Department.
“The possible location of the incident has been identified, and search and rescue is underway,” Lithuanian military spokesman Major Gintautas Ciunis told Elta.
Furthermore, Lithuania’s military has been unable to confirm the exact details of what happened.
“We truly appreciate and are grateful for the U.S. presence here. We have created all the conditions for them to increase their military readiness,” Giedrimas Jeglinskas, chairman of Lithuania’s National Security and Defense Committee, said in a statement.
“Such events do indeed occur during large-scale joint military exercises, not only among the Americans, but also in other armies. The aim is to reduce the likelihood of such things, but such things are not impossible. If there was some kind of accident, lessons are learned, and safety requirements are increased,” he went on.
The announcement comes just days after the Baltic countries announced plans regarding how they would be strengthening their border defenses with Russia and Belarus.
Lithuania has been a NATO member since 2004.
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