US Army identifies 4th soldier who died in training accident in Lithuania

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army has released the identity of the fourth soldier who died in a training accident in Lithuania, a day after his body was recovered during a weeklong search that took hundreds of troops and other rescue workers from three nations.

The 3rd Infantry Division said Wednesday the soldier was Staff Sgt. Troy S. Knutson-Collins, 28, of Battle Creek, Michigan. It said Knutson-Collins and two of the other soldiers who died have been posthumously promoted to the rank of staff sergeant.

The other two sergeants who were promoted were Jose Duenez Jr., 25, of Joliet, Illinois, and Edvin F. Franco, 25, of Glendale, California. The other soldier who died was Pfc. Dante D. Taitano, 21, of Dededo, Guam.

Their three bodies were recovered on Monday after U.S., Polish and Lithuanian armed forces and other rescuers dug their M88 Hercules vehicle out of a peat bog at the expansive Gen. Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in the town of Pabradė, 6 miles (10 kilometers) west of the border with Belarus.

All four soldiers were part of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and were on a tactical training exercise when they and their vehicle were reported missing on March 25, the Army said. The 63-ton armored vehicle was discovered the following day submerged in 15 feet (4.5 meters) of water. It took days to pull it out of the bog.

Knutson-Collins, an artillery mechanic, had served in the Army for more than seven years and was assigned to 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery Regiment. He deployed to Korea in 2020.

“Words cannot express how deeply this loss is felt by everyone in our unit,” said Capt. Jackson Patillo, a commander in the 1st Battalion. “Staff Sgt. Troy Collins was an exceptional friend to all of us and an irreplaceable member to our entire Fox family that we will truly miss.”

There will be a formal dignified departure ceremony for the soldiers on Thursday in Vilnius, the capital, which is expected to include top Lithuanian officials and military leaders. They will eventually be transported to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

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Lithuanian Army soldiers hold flowers in memory of three soldiers found dead on Monday at a training range in Pabrade, near the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

A Lithuanian soldier holds his child as he looks at floral tributes in memory of three soldiers found dead on Monday at a training range in Pabrade, near the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

U.S. Army military vehicles including two M88 Recovery vehicles roll to attend recovery efforts continue for a missed U.S. Army soldier, as three other found dead on Monday, at a training range in Pabrade, north of Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

Germany's Army soldiers light candles in memory of three soldiers found dead on Monday at a training range in Pabrade, near the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

This combination of images shows from left, Army Pfc. Dante D. Taitano, 21, of Dededo, Guam, Army Sgt. Edvin F. Franco, 25, of Glendale, Calif., Army Sgt. Jose Duenez Jr., 25, of Joliet, Ill., and Army Staff Sgt. Troy S. Knutson-Collins, 28, of Battle Creek, Mich., who were killed in a training accident near Pabradė, Lithuania, in March 2025. (Department of Defense via AP)

LONDON (AP) — A British court sent two men to prison Friday for setting fire to property linked to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a plot orchestrated by a mysterious Russian-speaking figure.

Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Stanislav Carpiuc, a 27-year-old Romanian citizen, were imprisoned for 7 years and 2 years, respectively, after being found guilty of conspiracy to damage property by fire.

The men targeted a car and two properties linked to Starmer over three nights in May 2025 on the orders of a Russian-speaking figure going by the name of “El Money,” according to prosecutors. The identity of El Money, who communicated on the messaging app Telegram with Lavrynovych, was never revealed and they were not charged.

Lavrynovych was a “useful idiot, a fool,” who could be manipulated to his handler’s advantage, Judge Neil Garnham Garnham said. The court heard that Carpuic was a middleman tasked with facilitating payment — which never came — and recruiting someone to film the fires.

The plot fits the description of Russian state-backed sabotage, Cmdr. Dominic Murphy has said previously. He oversaw the initial investigation into the fires as head of the counterterrorism team at the Metropolitan Police before retiring in March.

He said evidence gathered by police showed that El Money spoke Russian and is “likely to be in Russia.” El Money’s methods were “very similar” to those known to be used by Russian intelligence services acting in the U.K. Such plots, he said, often have “very senior sign-off.”

Western officials say Russia is carrying out a sabotage campaign against European countries that support Ukraine. The Associated Press has tracked at least 192 attacks across Europe since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine that include arson and cyberattacks as well as attempted assassinations.

When asked by AP in June if Russia is waging a covert war against the West, President Vladimir Putin brushed off the allegations.

Addressing Lavrynovych in the dock, Garnham said he agreed to carry out this “mindless piece of arson for money.”

“You are not a man of great principle. And you were easily bought,” Garnham said. He said that Lavrynovych is a man of “significantly low-level intellectual functioning,” and was therefore vulnerable to manipulation.

He accepted the job from El Money as he had also accepted “other grubby little tasks,” Garnham said.

Lavrynovych’s defense lawyer James Scobie said his client was “low-hanging fruit” used by El Money to deliberately target the prime minister and was prime “fodder for this type of infiltration.” Lavrynovych, he said, had brought shame on his family in Ukraine where his father worked with the military before he died.

The U.K. Home Office called the fires an “abhorrent attack” and said those responsible have been brought to justice. It did not respond to requests for comment about whether the British government planned to attribute the fires to Russia.

Lavrynovych was tasked with setting and filming the fires over several days in May 2025, according to evidence presented during his six-week trial. El Money recruited him online and sent detailed instructions, including the locations of the targets and how to mix flammable liquids from a hardware store.

The attacks did not cause injuries or major damage, but the prime minister’s sister-in-law, Judith Alexander, said she was left “struggling to breathe” after smoke filled her house in the third attack. She and her family were staying at the residence, which had been Starmer’s home before he became prime minister.

Messages recovered from Lavrynovych’s phone showed he discussed other vandalism he conducted for money, such as painting the windshields of cars black and putting up anti-Islam posters in Muslim areas of London.

He was not charged with that activity and it will be investigated, said Cmdr. Helen Flanagan, the current head of the Metropolitan Police’s counterterrorism team.

Counterterrorism police are dealing with more and more crimes, such as arson, which are being directed by anonymous people online promising payment, Flanagan said in a statement after the sentencing.

People who consider carrying out such activity should “think again,” because they could, like Lavrynovych, not get paid and go to jail instead, she said.

This photo combination of undated photos originally issued on April 29, 2025 by the Metropolitan Police shows Roman Lavrynovych, left, and Stanislav Carpiuc. (Metropolitan Police /PA via AP)