the russian military officer who "stopped" a nuclear war.

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Sunday September 26, 2004 21:20 by wikipedia

his anniverary.

Stanislav Petrov (born c. 1939) is a retired Russian Army colonel who, on September 26, 1983, averted a potential nuclear war by refusing to accept that missiles had been launched against the USSR by the United States, despite the indication given by his computerised early warning systems. The Soviet computer reports were later shown to have been in error, and Petrov is credited with preventing Thermonuclear World War and the devastation of much of the Earth by nuclear weapons.

Because of military secrecy and political and international differences, Petrov's actions were kept secret until 1998, and most of the world has not heard of this man who saved the lives of millions.

Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov was the officer on duty at the Serpukhov-15 bunker near Moscow. It was his responsibility to use computers and satellites to warn his superiors if there was ever a nuclear missile attack against the USSR. In the event of such an attack, the Soviet Union's strategy was to launch an immediate all-out nuclear counter-attack against the United States.

Just past midnight, on September 26, 1983, the computers indicated that an American missile was heading toward the Soviet Union. Lt. Col. Petrov reasoned that a computer error had occurred, since the United States was not likely to launch just one missile if it were attacking the Soviet Union - it would launch many. Also, there had been questions in the past about the reliability of the satellite system being used, so he dismissed the warning as a false alarm, concluding that no missile had actually been launched by the United States.

A short time later the computer indicated that a second missile had been launched, followed by a third, a fourth and a fifth. Despite these indications, Lt. Col. Petrov still felt that the computer system was wrong, however there was no other source of information with which to confirm his suspicions. The Soviet Union's land radar was not capable of detecting any missiles beyond the horizon, so by the time they could make a positive identification it would be too late.

Despite the computer indications he trusted his intuition and declared it a false alarm. If he were wrong, he realized nuclear missiles would soon begin raining down on the Soviet Union. Within a short while it appeared that his instincts had been right. Despite the immense pressure of the situation his judgement had been sound, and a full-scale nuclear war had been averted.

Stanislav Petrov was not originally scheduled to be on duty that night. Had he not been there, it is possible a different commanding officer would not have made the same decision.

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Aftermath
Despite having averted potential nuclear disaster, by refusing to acknowledge the computer's warnings Petrov had disobeyed his orders and effectively defied military protocol. He later underwent intense questioning by his superiors about his actions during this nerve-racking ordeal, the result of which was that he was no longer considered a reliable military officer.

In the end, the Soviet military did not reward or honor Petrov for his actions, however it did not punish him either. His actions had shown imperfections in the Soviet military system which showed his superiors in a bad light. He was given a reprimand, officially for the improper filing of paperwork, and his once-promising military career came to an end. He was reassigned to a less sensitive position and ultimately retired from the military.

Petrov went on to live his life in Russia as a pensioner, spending his retirement living in poverty in the town of Fryazino. He has said he does not regard himself as a hero for what he did that day, but nevertheless, on May 21, 2004, the San Francisco-based Association of World Citizens gave Colonel Petrov its World Citizen Award along with a trophy and $1,000 in recognition of the part he played in averting this disaster.

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Print sources
Burrelle's Information Services (Dateline NBC, Nov. 12, 2000)
Washington Post (Feb. 10, 1999)
BBC News (Oct. 21, 1998)
Daily Mail (Oct. 7, 1998)
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External links
BrightStarSound.com (http://www.brightstarsound.com) a tribute website, multiple pages with photos and reprints of various articles about Petrov
S. Petrov on SkySurfer.co.uk (http://www.skysurfer.co.uk/spetrov.htm)
Petrov on Spectrum.ieee.org (http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/publicfeature/mar00/earlsb1.html)
Cdi.org article (http://www.cdi.org/russia/308-12.cfm) 28 May 2004

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