Lithuania officials report that the M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle with four Army personnel that went missing during a training exercise early this week sank into a peat bog. Rescuers are currently digging in the bog. The soldiers trained with the Lithuanian military and law officials when it disappeared. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had stated that the soldiers had perished, but other officials walked back that statement. The vehicle was removed from the bog but contained no bodies.

The terrain in Lithuania and other parts of the Baltic countries can be boggy and pose challenges for heavy vehicles. All of the soldiers were from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, a rotational unit deployed to NATO’s eastern flank, U.S. Army Europe and Africa said in statement. USAREUR-AF confirmed that the soldiers went missing in the early morning hours Tuesday during tactical training.
The search and rescue operation involves U.S. Army and Lithuanian authorities searched at a military site near the city of Pabradė, Army officials said. The city is about six miles from the border with Belarus.

Donald Trump appeared unaware on Wednesday that four U.S. soldiers had gone missing during a NATO training exercise in Lithuania.

When asked by a reporter if he had been briefed on the situation that began to unfurl hours before, the president replied, “No, I haven’t.”

He then moved on to take another question.