The US military reported that four American soldiers are unaccounted for in a training location close to the capital of Lithuania.

VILNIUS – The U.S. military announced on Wednesday that four soldiers from the Army are currently missing from a training area near Lithuania’s capital, prompting a search operation.

According to a statement from U.S. Army Europe and Africa public affairs in Wiesbaden, Germany, the soldiers were engaged in scheduled tactical training when they went missing.

It said further information will be provided as new information becomes available.

Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reported that the incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon during an exercise at the General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in Pabradė. The town is situated just under 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with Belarus.

The Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are all NATO members and have often had chilly ties with Russia, a key ally of Belarus, since declaring independence from the Soviet Union in 1990.

Relations soured further over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has been one of the most outspoken supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces.