Stanislav Petrov
Stanislav Yevgráfovich Petrov (Russian: Станислав Евграфович Петров, romanization Stanislav Evgrafovič Petrov) (Vladivostok, 7 September 1939-Friázino, May 19, 2017) was a lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Air Defense Troops who played a key role in the so-called autumnal equinox incident in 1983.
On September 26, 1983, three weeks after the Soviet military shot down Korean Air Flight 007, Petrov was the duty officer at the command center of the Oko nuclear early warning system. > when the system reported that a missile had been launched from the United States, followed by five more. Petrov considered the reports a false alarm and decided to defy Soviet military protocol. For this action, he is credited with averting an improper retaliatory nuclear strike against the United States and its NATO allies which could have led to full-scale nuclear war. Subsequent investigation confirmed that the Soviet satellite warning system had malfunctioned.
The Incident
On September 26, 1983 (still 25 in the United States), Stanislav Petrov averted what could have been a global catastrophe when the so-called Autumn Equinox Incident occurred, which would place the world at few seconds of the Atomic Apocalypse. At 00:14 (Moscow time) a Soviet satellite raised the alarm: an American intercontinental ballistic missile would have been launched from the Malmstrom Air Force Base (Montana, United States) and in 20 minutes it would reach the Soviet Union.
Stanislav Petrov was in charge of the Serpukhov-15 bunker, the command center for Soviet military intelligence from where Russian aerospace defense was coordinated. His mission was to verify and alert his superiors of any attack, thus beginning the process to counterattack the United States with nuclear weapons.
Just three weeks earlier, the Soviet Union had shot down a South Korean airliner that had invaded Soviet airspace, killing all 269 people on board, including several Americans. NATO soon began the military exercise 'Able Archer 83', interpreted by the KGB as a preparation for a first strike.
According to CNN, the KGB had sent a message to its spies in the West warning them to prepare for a possible nuclear war.
At first, Petrov thought it must be a mistake, because it would make no sense for the Americans to attack with a single missile. Computers later indicated that four more missiles were heading towards the USSR.
Petrov was well aware of the peculiarities of the OKO satellite early warning system and believed that it could be wrong, so he considered again that there were too few missiles, only five, when the United States had thousands. He decided to wait and it was discovered that it was a false alarm caused by a rare astronomical conjunction between the Earth, the Sun and the specific position of the OKO satellite. When asked why he had not given the alert, he replied:
People don't start a nuclear war with only five missiles.Stanislav Petrov
Consequences
This incident embarrassed senior Soviet officials, and those responsible for military discipline considered that Lieutenant Colonel Petrov had made a mistake in his decision (since his duty was to communicate the information to his superiors, and let them decide if it was wrong) or not). However, given the circumstances, they did not punish him, but assigned him to a lower position and decided to hide the incident.
Petrov retired from the army and spent his last days as a pensioner in Friazino, Russia.
Acknowledgments
Although he did not consider himself a hero for what he did, the Association of World Citizens presented him with its World Citizen Award on May 21, 2004, consisting of a trophy and US$1,000, for averting what could have been a global disaster.
In January 2006, Petrov traveled to the United States, where he was honored by the United Nations, and where he was presented with a second award from the Association of World Citizens.
Other honors and awards received:
- The Australian Senate paid him on 23 June 2004.
- In Germany, he was awarded the German Media Award in 2011, which recognizes people who have made significant contributions to World Peace for avoiding a possible nuclear war.
- He was awarded at Baden-Baden on February 24, 2012.
- Awarded with Dresden Preis in 2013.
- Kevin Costner made the documentary “The Red Button” in his honor.
Documentary
In the documentary "The Red Button & The Man Who Saved The World" ("The Red Button and the Man Who Saved the World", 2008) Petrov recounted:
Everything that happened didn't concern me - it was my job. I was just doing my job and I was the right person at the right time, that's all. My late wife was ten years without knowing anything about it. 'But what did you do?' he asked me. I didn't do anything.