"This is simply a large step forward" in a five-day search and rescue action," said the commander of the Lithuanian army, General Raimundas Vaiksznoras. However, he added that “one line is not enough”.
"Two are needed, but the first line means we are no longer standing still," Vaiksznoras wrote on Facebook.
It took the divers about 5 hours to work in the dark to fix the rope. According to fresh estimates, the vehicle is about 4 metres below the water surface and under about a two-meter mud layer.
— It will take at least as much time as the first rope, and possibly even more," said the head of the Defence Staff Remigijus Baltrenas.
A mass was celebrated in Vilnius Cathedral on Sunday for missing soldiers and their loved ones, as well as soldiers and rescuers. Liturgy was presided over by Vilnius metropolitan Archbishop Gintaras Grusus.
Missing American Soldiers
Four U.S. soldiers were reported missing on Tuesday during training at a training ground in Podbrod, about 15-20 km from the Lithuanian-Belarus border. 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 action.
On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz reported that a task force consisting of respective twelve soldiers with dense equipment and divers, is urgently leaving Poland for Lithuania to aid find American soldiers missing there and extract their combat car.
The work is carried out in a swampy area.
About 1,000 U.S. soldiers are stationed at the Podbroda (lit.Pabrade), forming 2 battalions. They have been present there since 2019 on rotation rules, mainly as part of armored brigades.
