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The mysterious disappearance of U.S. soldiers close the border with Belarus. Poland sends help
A task force of respective twelve soldiers with dense equipment and divers are urgently on their way to Lithuania to aid find American soldiers who are missing there and to extract their combat vehicle - said Deputy Prime Minister, head of MON Władysław Kosiniak-Kamish.
Aleksander Mimier/ PAP |
Four American soldiers were lost on Tuesday afternoon during exercises at the Lithuanian camp in Podbrod, not far from the border with Belarus. Lithuanian and abroad military, as well as helicopters of the Air Force and the State Border defender of Lithuania, were directed to search and rescue operations. The Minister of Defence of Lithuania Dovile Shakaliene informed on Thursday that the bodies of 4 soldiers had not yet been found, and their deaths - contrary to media reports from Wednesday - were not confirmed.
Also on Thursday, the head of the Polish MON informed about sending Polish soldiers to Lithuania to assist in the search. "A task force of respective twelve soldiers with dense equipment and divers are urgently leaving for Lithuania to assist in uncovering American soldiers and extracting a combat car" - said Kosiniak-Kamish in the entry on platform X.
"We respond at the request of our allies" - he added.
General Staff Chief General Wiesław Kukuła said on platform X: "We have offered to support and support our allies in an highly hard search and rescue operation. The soldiers of this unit are well known to us. They have repeatedly practiced side by side with us besides defending our state".
Later, General Staff spokeswoman Colonel Joanna Klejszmit said that about 30 soldiers with 15 units of equipment - including method safety cars - would most likely go to Lithuania on Thursday evening. As she added, it is about soldiers posted from the 16th Pomeranian Mechanized Division.
Missing American soldiers
The U.S. Army reported on Wednesday that Hercules' armored vehicle, which 4 U.S. soldiers were driving during training at a training ground in Podbrody, Lithuania, was found submerged in a reservoir. The U.S. Army, Lithuanian armed forces and civilian agencies have been assured to carry out rescue operations.
On Wednesday, Lithuanian news portals - without mention to authoritative sources - reported that missing soldiers were dead and that their caterpillar vehicle was found in the swamps.
The polygon in Podbrodzi is about 15-20 km from the border with Belarus. There are about 1,000 American soldiers stationed there, forming 2 battalions. They have been present there since 2019 on rotational terms, mainly from armored troops.
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The location where the armored vehicle most likely sank has been shown: fresh photos
ELTA (ELTA Agreement)
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Search action in Pabrade
FACE: DELFI COLOUR
The commander of the rescue action for missing American soldiers at the Pabradė camp, Lt. Col. Aušrius Buikus, said earlier that it is not yet known precisely where the caterpillar vehicle that sank in the swamps is located. According to him, it is besides hard to foretell erstwhile the armored vehicle can be pulled out of the water.
"We don't know the exact location. There is as much as the sensors, the minions of our engineering battalion, and as much as the attempts to scope the vehicle with rods showed. We can't tell precisely what the depth is and how it stands leaning down to the bottom," said A. Buikus to journalists gathered in Pabrade.
"At the moment, the evacuation tank is being pulled out of the swamp. Behind my back is simply a device that evens the way in, digs the ground and tries to scope where the armored vehicle is located," the lieutenant said.
However, he pointed out that it was hard to foretell for the time being how long it would take to pull out a caterpillar vehicle.
"I don't want to speculate for a while, due to the fact that at any minute we face 1 or another challenge – water flows, it's slime. (...) I cannot answer this question exactly" he said, noting that the reservoir could have been about 3 to 5 meters deep.
According to him, experts from civilian companies and specialists from the Department of Fire and Rescue (PAGD) are presently participating in the rescue operation.
"At the minute the shore is secured so that we can approach with dense equipment and erstwhile the exact location of the armored vehicle is established (...), we will hang it and drag it back with an equivalent armored vehicle" - he explained.
According to the lieutenant, bulldozers, excavators, various tow trucks work at the site, and a water pump was used, and a digger was ordered. A. Buikus assures that according to his cognition the Lithuanian Armed Forces have not yet encountered a akin liberation operation. “At least as far as I know, we haven’t met specified cases,” the lieutenant said.
"I personally started this (rescue action) yesterday morning. The rescue action has taken place before, but I can't tell you what kind of services were involved. I know there were search helicopters involved. It happened at any time, I cannot comment on it" - he besides informed.
ELTA recalls that on Tuesday at 4:45 p.m., a study was received about the disappearance of United States soldiers (USA) and a caterpillar vehicle at the General Silvestros Žukauskas camp in Pabrade.
At the moment, an intense search continues, but hard natural conditions make it worse.
The mysterious disappearance of U.S. soldiers close the border with Belarus. Poland sends aid | Independent.pl
The location where the armored vehicle most likely sank has been shown: fresh photos - Delfi
