Umair
The president of Lithuania on Friday visited swampland near his country’s border with Belarus, saying he was “hoping for a miracle” as military and civilian rescue crews worked frantically to extract a heavy United States Army vehicle carrying four American soldiers that disappeared in the waterlogged forest area on Tuesday.
The American vehicle, an M88 Hercules, went missing during a military training exercise and was found on Wednesday submerged in a muddy bog. The soldiers have not been found, and efforts to reach the vehicle have been hampered by deep mud and water from a nearby lake.
A Lithuanian official involved in the rescue mission who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter said tracks in the ground indicated that the American vehicle had veered off a sandy path toward a small pond and then turned abruptly into a wooded area that ended up being a swamp. It seemed to have sunk quickly, the person said, but it was unclear what happened to the crew.
“Although many skeptics would probably say that there is nothing to hope for in these circumstances, I want to hope,” President Gitanas Nauseda of Lithuania said during a visit to the site on Friday. “I am still hoping for a miracle,” he added.
The missing soldiers, from the First Brigade, Third Infantry Division, were training near Pabrade, a city in eastern Lithuania near the border with Belarus, a close ally of Russia and a stalwart supporter of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Both Belarus and Russia have frequently criticized Lithuania, a member of NATO that used to be part of the Soviet Union, for hosting American and other allied troops.
Amid rising alarm in Lithuania and other formerly communist countries in Eastern Europe that President Trump will weaken the NATO alliance, frantic joint efforts to recover the missing U.S. soldiers by Lithuanian and American rescue crews have showcased what Mr. Nauseda on Friday said was the value of allies acting together. Poland, Lithuania’s neighbor and another member of NATO, has also sent military engineers to help.
“Such minutes, such circumstances,” the Lithuanian president said “only confirm how strong we are when we are together, when we are in the NATO alliance and feel the support of our friends.”
Mr. Trump and his senior officials have made it clear in recent weeks that the security of Europe is no longer the first priority of the United States, which wants to concentrate resources on its own border and the Indo-Pacific, where China has become a peer rival.
Mr. Trump suggested this month that Washington might not protect NATO members that he believed were not paying enough for their own defense, calling it “common sense.”
Whether the disaster in Lithuania will reinforce the administration’s view that the United States is paying too high a price to defend Europe or help convince it that European allies are pulling their weight remains to be seen.
The U.S. military, in a statement issued on Thursday, praised Lithuania for its efforts to find the missing soldiers.
“We are incredibly appreciative of the dedicated and professional efforts of our Lithuanian allies in ensuring the safety of U.S. personnel,” said Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, the commanding general of First Armored Division. “They have worked tirelessly alongside us over the last 48 hours and we continue to be grateful for their support.”
Also visiting the site on Friday was the United States ambassador to Lithuania, Kara C. McDonald, who praised Lithuania, which has rushed divers, military engineers and civilian rescue crews to find and work to extract the sunken American military vehicle.
“This place is a symbol of our alliance and of working hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, in the search for our missing soldiers,” the ambassador said, describing Lithuania as an exemplary U.S. ally.
Ms. McDonald said a team of American Army engineers had arrived on Thursday night and would be assisted in the rescue operation by Navy engineers who were expected to arrive on Friday afternoon.
The submerged M88 Hercules, essentially a giant armored tow truck, disappeared on Tuesday after being sent to extract another Army vehicle that had become disabled during the training exercise, according to the military.
“Due to the terrain, this is an incredibly complex engineering effort,” Maj. Robin Bruce, a 1st Armored Division engineer, said in the Army statement. He added, “The team is exploring every available option to speed up this process.”
Lithuania’s defense minister, Dovilė Sakaliene, told local news media that the country’s fire and rescue service had worked overnight to pump out water from the swamp but had not uncovered the vehicle, which she said was buried at least five yards beneath the surface. She added that a large dredger would join the effort later on Friday.
