JOHN: THE SHIFT IN U.S. SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE IN ITS WAR WITH RUSSIA, WHICH ENTERS ITS FOURTH YEAR TOMORROW, HAS RAISED ALARMS NOT ONLY IN KYIV BUT IN CAPITALS ACROSS EUROPE.

A NEW DOCUMENTARY FINDS THAT THOSE ANXIETIES ARE ESPECIALLY HIGH IN SOME OF RUSSIA'S NEIGHBORS ON THE BALTIC SEA, ESTONIA, FINLAND AND SWEDEN.

>> EVERY DAY WE ARE WORKING TO GET THIS, THIS MESSAGE OVER TO RUSSIA THAT EVEN IF YOU TRY, WE WILL MAKE IT RIGHT.

>> RUSSIA INVADED ONE OF THEIR NEIGHBORS.

SO IT WAS A QUITE A AWAKENING FOR THE WHOLE SWEDISH SOCIETY AND OF COURSE, FOR US REALLY STRONG FORCES.

YEAH.

>> AT LEAST IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD, WE WOULD BE READY TO FIGHT TOMORROW.

JOHN: THE FILM IS CALLED PUTIN'S ENDGAME.

THE STAKES BEYOND UKRAINE.

IT WAS PRODUCED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL'S EURASIA CENTER.

IT'S THE WORK OF TWO VETERANS OF NBC NEWS PRODUCER JOEL SEIDMAN AND CORRESPONDENT KEVIN TIBBLES.

KEVIN, I'D LIKE TO START WITH YOU.

IN THE FILM WE SEE YOU TRAVELING THROUGH THESE COUNTRIES ASKING A LOT OF PEOPLE THE SAME QUESTION, WHAT IF PUTIN WINS IN UKRAINE?

I WANT TO PLAY A LITTLE OF YOU TALKING TO YOUNG MEN ABOUT THIS IN ESTONIA.

>> WHAT HAPPENS TO ESTONIA IF PUTIN WINS UKRAINE?

>> WE NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT, ACTUALLY.

>> WHY?

>> I DON'T KNOW.

IT'S TERRIFYING TO THINK ABOUT THIS.

>> THE PART OF OUR BRAIN IS JUST BLOCKING THIS SCARY THOUGHT ABOUT.

>> YEAH, BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS GUY WANTS AND WHAT CONSEQUENCES THIS WILL BRING.

JOHN: HOW STRONG AND HOW PERVASIVE WERE THOSE SENTIMENTS IN WHAT YOU FOUND?

KEVIN: THEY WERE VERY STRONG, VERY PERVASIVE.

WHAT IS INTERESTING, THOSE TWO YOUNG MEN WERE IN THE TOWN OF NARVA, WHICH IS JUST ACROSS THE RIVER FROM RUSSIA.

PUTIN HAS ALREADY SAID HE WANTS TO RETAKE NARVA.

WHAT IS ALSO INTERESTING IS, THE SOVIET UNION TOOK ESTONIA, LITHUANIA, LATVIA AND THE BALTIC NATIONS DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

THEY EITHER MURDERED ANYONE WHO WAS IN IT, WAS IN ANY POSITION, OR THEY DEPORTED PEOPLE TO SIBERIA TO PERHAPS DIE IN LABOR CAMPS WORKING FOR THE SOVIETS.

THE MEMORIES OF THAT HISTORY ARE VERY STRONG, BUT YOU CAN ALSO TELL ON THE FACES OF THOSE TWO YOUNG BOYS THAT THEY'RE SCARED TO DEATH.

THEY'RE SCARED TO DEATH OF THE QUESTION THAT I ASKED THEM, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, JOHN, BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.

BUT THEY DO KNOW IS, PUTIN IS RIGHT ACROSS THE RIVER.

JOHN: THEY FEEL UKRAINE IS FIGHTING THEIR WAR, PREVENTING A FUTURE WAR WITH THEM, IS THAT RIGHT?

KEVIN: ABSOLUTELY.

THE ESTONIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAID TO US, LISTEN, UKRAINE IS FIGHTING OUR WAR FOR US.

WE NEED TO GIVE THEM AS MUCH SUPPORT AS POSSIBLE.

HE IS TALKING ABOUT BRINGING UP LEVELS OF GDP TO SUPPORT NATO.

ARTICLE FIVE SAYS IF ANY MEMBER OF NATO IS ATTACKED, EVERYONE JUMPS IN TO ASSIST IN THAT.

AS WE HEARD FROM ONE OF THE ESTONIAN OFFICIALS, THEY ARE HOPING THAT NATO IS GOING TO SAVE THE DAY.

OF COURSE ALL WE ARE HEARING NOW IS, THE WHOLE QUESTION OF ARTICLE FIVE IS NOW IN DOUBT BECAUSE OF WHAT OFFICIALS ON THIS SIDE OF THE ATLANTIC ARE SAYING.

JOHN: I HAVE HEARD THIS DESCRIBED AS A PASSION PROJECT FOR YOU.

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO DO THIS?

JOEL: I HAVE BEEN DOING LOTS OF FILMS WITH KEVIN OVER THE YEARS ABOUT THE NATO ALLIANCE, ABOUT RUSSIA'S AGGRESSION TOWARD NATO.

THERE ARE SHIPS, MANY OF THEM WITH FOREIGN FLAGS, THAT HAVE BEEN DRAGGING THEIR ANCHORS AND SEVERING VERY IMPORTANT CABLES BETWEEN THE BALTIC NATIONS.

THAT IS WHAT IS CALLED A HYBRID WAR, THAT RUSSIA HAS BEEN TESTING THE ALLIANCE TO SEE WHAT TO DO.

WE THOUGHT THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO TAKE THE TEMPERATURE OF THE TWO NEWEST NATO MEMBERS, SWEDEN AND FINLAND, AND ALSO THE NATO MEMBER THAT HAS ITS MOST EASTERN BORDER WITH RUSSIA, AND THAT'S ESTONIA.

JOHN: HYBRID WARFARE SOUNDS HIGH-TECH, BUT THIS IS NOT CYBERATTACKS, THIS ISN'T HACKING, THIS IS SABOTAGE.

JOEL: YES, AND IT IS DIFFICULT TO POINT THE FINGER ON EXACTLY WHO IS BEHIND IT THAT IS THE BEAUTY OF HYBRID WARFARE.

THE OFFICIALS THAT WE SPOKE TO AND ALSO THE PEOPLE IN HELSINKI THAT ARE ACTUALLY LOOKING AT THIS AS AN INSTITUTE, SAY THESE SHIPS ARE BASICALLY DRAGGING THEIR ANCHORS AND THEY COULD DRAG THEIR ANCHORS UP TO 100KM.

THEREFORE, THAT IS NOT JUST AN ACCIDENT, THEY ARE CAUSING HAVOC AND THEY'RE BREAKING A LOT OF VERY IMPORTANT COMMUNICATIONS LINES.

JOHN: KEVIN, YOU MENTIONED NATO.

IS THERE A SENSE OF WHAT FRIGHTENS PEOPLE IN THIS REGION MORE PRESIDENT TRUMP'S SORT OF , PIVOT AWAY FROM UKRAINE OR HIS TALK ABOUT PERHAPS LEAVING NATO?

KEVIN: THEY ARE PART AND PARCEL OF THE SAME THING AND THE WORD I WOULD USE IS FEAR.

WHAT JOEL WAS TALKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF HYBRID WARFARE, YOU KNOW, IT GOES WAY BEYOND THE SHIPPING.

FOR EXAMPLE, THE ESTONIANS SAY THAT THE RUSSIANS ARE JAMMING THEIR GPS SIGNALS AND THAT SOMETIMES PLANES CAN'T LAND AT THEIR AIRPORTS.

IT ALL SEEMS TO BE A PATTERN OF TRYING TO DESTABILIZE SOCIETIES.

WE SAW THAT IN UKRAINE PRIOR TO THE INVASION OF UKRAINE.

THE ESTONIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAID TO US THAT THIS IS DONALD TRMP'S CHURCHILL MOMENT.

DOES DONALD TRUMP WANT TO BE SEEN AS SOMEONE WHO PERHAPS STOPPED THE THIRD WORLD WAR, STOPPED THE INVASION OF THE OTHER SIDE?

IF VLADIMIR PUTIN IS REALLY TRYING TO RECREATE SOME IMPERIAL SLASH SOVIET-STYLE RUSSIA.

THESE PEOPLE IN THE BALTIC NATIONS KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THAT'S LIKE, BECAUSE IT'S THEIR RELATIVES WHO WERE SENT TO SIBERIAN LABOR CAMPS.

THEY'RE LOOKING TO THE U.S. AND THE EVENTS OF THIS PAST WEEK, I THINK, IT PROBABLY SCARED THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF THEM.

JOHN: WHAT DO YOU HOPE PEOPLE WILL TAKE AWAY FROM THIS?

JOEL: OUR AUDIENCE IS THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND I THINK THIS IS AN AREA OF THE WORLD THAT'S A LITTLE BIT ALIEN TO THEM SO WE WANT TO GIVE THEM THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE WHAT NORMAL CITIZENS, BORDER GUARDS, HEADS OF STATE, FOREIGN MINISTERS THINK ABOUT THIS REGION AND UNDERSTAND THAT THEY ARE UNDER THREAT, AND THAT THEY DO BELIEVE THAT THEY COULD BE NEXT.

JOHN: QUICKLY, WHERE CAN PEOPLE SEE THIS?

JOEL: CERTAINLY ON THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL, IT IS AT THE VERY TOP AND WE ENCOURAGE AMERICANS TO TAKE A PEEK.

JOHN: THANK YOU BOTH VERY MUCH.

THANK YOU JOHN.

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