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Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov (Russian: Станислав Евграфович Петров; 7 September 1939 – 19 May 2017) was a Russian lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defence Forces who played a key role in the 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident.

On 26 September 1983, three weeks after the Soviet military had shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007, Petrov was the duty officer at the command center for the Oko nuclear early-warning system when the system reported that a missile had been launched from the United States, followed by up to four more. Petrov correctly judged the reports to be a false alarm. His subsequent decision to disobey orders, against Soviet military protocol, is credited with having prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its NATO allies that would have likely resulted in a large-scale nuclear war. An investigation later confirmed that the Soviet satellite warning system had indeed malfunctioned. Because his decision may have averted a retaliatory nuclear strike, Petrov is often credited as having "saved the world".

Petrov enrolled at the Kiev Military Aviation Engineering Academy of the Soviet Air Forces, and after graduating in 1972 he joined the Soviet Air Defence Forces. On 26 September 1983, during the Cold War, the Soviet nuclear early warning system Oko reported the launch of one intercontinental ballistic missile with four more missiles behind it from the United States. Had Petrov reported incoming American missiles, his superiors might have launched an assault against the United States, precipitating a corresponding nuclear response from the United States. However, in a 2013 interview, Petrov said at the time he was never sure that the alarm was erroneous.

In a later interview, Petrov stated that the famous red button was never made operational, as military psychologists did not want to put the decision of initiating a nuclear war into the hands of one single person. Petrov, as an individual, was not in a position where he could have single-handedly launched any of the Soviet missile arsenal. But Blair has said that at that time, the U.S.–Soviet relationship had deteriorated to the point where "the Soviet Union as a system—not just the Kremlin, not just Andropov, not just the KGB—but as a system, was geared to expect an attack and to retaliate very quickly to it.

During a visit to the United States for the filming of the documentary The Man Who Saved the World, Petrov toured the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in May 2007 and commented, "I would never have imagined being able to visit one of the enemy's securest sites."

On 21 May 2004, the San Francisco-based Association of World Citizens gave Petrov its World Citizen Award along with a trophy and $1,000 "in recognition of the part he played in averting a catastrophe." In January 2006, Petrov travelled to the United States where he was honored in a meeting at the United Nations in New York City. Various internet communities commemorate 26 September as Stanislav Petrov day, following Eliezer Yudkowsky's blog post highlighting the story: "Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, take a minute to not destroy the world.". For his actions in averting a potential nuclear war in 1983, Petrov received the Dresden Peace Prize in Dresden, Germany, on 17 February 2013. Yet this might have occurred by accident on September 26, 1983, were it not for the wise decisions of Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov. Let us resolve to work together to realize a world free from fear of nuclear weapons, remembering the courageous judgement of Stanislav Petrov." As Petrov had died, the award was collected by his daughter, Elena. The story of the nuclear incident is portrayed in the novel La redención del camarada Petrov (The Redemption of Comrade Petrov) by Argentinian writer Eduardo Sguiglia (Edhasa, 2023).

Quick Facts

• Because his decision may have averted a retaliatory nuclear strike, Petrov is often credited as having "saved the world".
• Petrov correctly judged the reports to be a false alarm.
• His subsequent decision to disobey orders, against Soviet military protocol, is credited with having prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its NATO allies that would have likely resulted in a large-scale nuclear war.
• Let us resolve to work together to realize a world free from fear of nuclear weapons, remembering the courageous judgement of Stanislav Petrov." As Petrov had died, the award was collected by his daughter, Elena.
• An investigation later confirmed that the Soviet satellite warning system had indeed malfunctioned.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Stanislav Petrov". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.