On September 26, 1983, Soviet lieutenant colonel Stanislav Petrov was on duty at the Serpukhov-15 command post, 100 km from Moscow. The Cold War was in full swing. Petrov's task was to monitor the sensors of the space early warning system for the launch of nuclear missiles. If the sensors had signaled a nuclear attack, Petrov's duty would have been to immediately notify the country's leadership, which made the decision whether to retaliate.
So, on September 26, the computer alerted Petrov to the launch of missiles from the American base. Despite the terrible threat, the lieutenant colonel retained complete composure. He analyzed the readings of the sensors and was confused by the fact that the missiles were launched from only one point, and there were only a few missiles themselves. Petrov came to the conclusion that there was a case of a system failure and did not notify the high command. As it turned out later, the sensors were illuminated by sunlight reflected from the clouds. This issue has been fixed.
Petrov's iron self-control may have saved the lives of all of us, because if a nuclear war had started because of this mistake, the consequences would have been devastating.
January 19, 2006 in New York at the UN Headquarters, Stanislav Petrov was presented with a special award from the international public organization "Association of World Citizens". It is a crystal figurine "Hand holding the globe" with the inscription "To the man who prevented nuclear war" engraved on it.
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“The shift started as usual, at 20:00 I came to work. On that day, I had 80 servicemen under my command. We were doing what we usually do, just a routine... At 00:15, I will never forget this time, the sirens wailed. The word “START” suddenly appeared on the screen in front of my workplace. You could also see a map there. North America and a small square military base, it was from there that the rockets flew.
“One hundred and one, one hundred and one! the speakers blared. - This is one hundred and two. ground facilities, spacecraft and combat programs are functioning normally.” “One hundred and first. The one hundred and third is speaking, - was heard next, - the target was not detected by visual means. “Understood,” Petrov replied.
“I only had a few minutes to report to the leadership of the country about the threat. The missiles were supposed to explode on our territory in just half an hour, the officer said. - It seemed to me that my head turned into a computer - a lot of data, but they did not form into a single whole. I called the management after 2 minutes and said on the phone that the alarm was false, the computer had failed. Now all that remained was to wait until the missiles, if they had really been launched, would invade our airspace and be picked up by radar. It was supposed to happen in 18 minutes, but it didn’t happen.”
“All data from our computer is duplicated to higher authorities. But there in surprise: why is there no confirmation from me? A couple of minutes later - a call on government communications. I pick up the phone and report to the duty officer: "I am giving you false information." He answered shortly, "Understood." I am grateful to this person who communicated clearly, without unnecessary phrases and questions at that moment. And then the system roared again. The second rocket went. And the letters “START” light up again. And then three more times within three minutes. The inscription changed to "ROCKET ATTACK".
“You can’t really analyze anything in those two or three minutes. What remains is intuition. I had two arguments. Firstly, missile attacks do not start from one base, they take off from all at once. Secondly, a computer, by definition, is a fool. You never know what he can take for a launch.
“From the very beginning it was strange that the radar showed a launch from only one base, this does not happen with a missile attack. Only six months later it became known what caused the false alarm: the rays of the sun were reflected from the Earth in a certain way and illuminated the satellite. As luck would have it, it happened right above the military base.”
“They prophesied the order. But checks began, many violations were found. They changed their mind about rewarding me. Hooked: why is your combat log not full? I answer: how would I do it, I had a telephone receiver in one hand, and a microphone in the other? I gave orders at that moment.”
Released in 2014, the film The man who saved the world, directed by Denmark, Peter Anthony, with the participation of Hollywood stars: Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro, Ashton Kutcher, told the world community about the events in Russia on the night of September 26, 1983. Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov, the operational duty officer of Serpukhov-15, a command post a hundred kilometers from Moscow, made a decision on which the preservation of peace on Earth largely depended. What happened that night, and what does it mean for humanity?
cold war
The USSR and the USA, two superpowers, after the end of World War II became rivals in the struggle for influence in the post-war world. The irresolvable contradictions between the two models of social structure and their ideology, the ambitions of the leaders of the victorious countries and the absence of a real enemy led to a long confrontation that went down in history as the Cold War. Throughout the time, countries found themselves in close proximity to the outbreak of the Third World War.
It was possible to overcome 1962 only as a result of the political will and efforts of the presidents of the two countries: Nikita Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy, shown during personal negotiations. The Cold War was accompanied by an unprecedented arms race, in which the Soviet Union began to lose by the early 1980s.
Stanislav Petrov, who by 1983 had risen to the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Air Defense Ministry of the USSR, found the situation of a new round of confrontation between the great powers due to the involvement of the USSR in the war in Afghanistan. United States ballistic missiles are located in European countries, to which the Soviet Union immediately withdraws from the Geneva disarmament talks.
Downed Boeing 747
Ronald Reagan (USA) and Yuri Andropov (November 1982 - February 1984) in power brought relations between the two countries to the highest point of confrontation since Caribbean Crisis. Oil was added to the fire by the situation with the downed September 1, 1983 South Korean airliner, performing a passenger flight to New York. Deviated from the route by 500 kilometers, the Boeing was shot down over the territory of the USSR by the Su-15 interceptor of Captain Gennady Osipovich. A ballistic missile test was expected that day, which could have led to a tragic mix-up that resulted in the airliner with 269 people on board being mistaken for a reconnaissance aircraft.
Be that as it may, it is hard to believe that the decision to destroy the target was made at the level of the commander in chief of the Air Force and Air Defense. There was a real commotion in the Kremlin, because US presidential candidate Larry MacDonald was on board the downed liner. Only on September 7, the USSR admitted responsibility for the death of a passenger plane. An ICAO investigation confirmed the fact that the aircraft had deviated from the route, but no evidence of preventive actions by the Soviet Air Force has been found so far.
Needless to say that international relationships were extremely spoiled at the moment when Stanislav Petrov once again stood up for duty. 1983 is the year when the SPRN (missile attack warning system) of the USSR was in a state of constant combat readiness.
Night duty
A detailed description of the events with the downed Boeing is best able to illustrate: in the event of unforeseen circumstances, it is unlikely that General Secretary Andropov's hand would have trembled, pressing the trigger for a retaliatory strike in the event of an enemy nuclear attack.
Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov, born in 1939, being an analytical engineer, took up another duty at the Serpukhov-15 checkpoint, where missile launches were controlled. On the night of September 26, the country slept peacefully, for nothing foreshadowed danger. At 0:15 am, the early warning siren blared loudly, highlighting the frightening word "Start" on the banner. Behind him appeared: "The first rocket has launched, the reliability is the highest." It was about nuclear strike from one of the American bases. There is no time limit for how long a commander should think, but what happened in his head during the next moments is scary to think about. For according to the protocol, he was immediately obliged to report on the launch of a nuclear missile by the enemy.
There is no confirmation of the visual channel, and the analytical mind of the officer began to work out a version of the computer system's error. Having created more than one machine himself, he was aware that anything is possible, despite 30 levels of verification. He is told that a system error has been ruled out, but he does not believe in the logic of launching a single rocket. And at his own peril and risk, he picks up the phone to report to his superiors: "False information." Regardless of the instructions, the officer takes responsibility. Since then, for the whole world, Stanislav Petrov is the man who prevented world war.
The danger has passed
Today living in city near Moscow Fryazino, a retired lieutenant colonel, is asked many questions, one of which is always about how much he believed in his own decision and when he realized that the worst was over. Stanislav Petrov answers honestly: "The chances were fifty-fifty." The most serious test is the minute-by-minute repetition of the early warning signal that announced the launch of another missile. There were five in total. But he stubbornly waited for information from the visual channel, and the radars could not detect thermal radiation. Never before has the world been as close to disaster as in 1983. Developments terrible night showed how important the human factor is: one wrong decision, and everything can turn into dust.
Only after 23 minutes, the lieutenant colonel was able to exhale freely, having received confirmation of the correctness of the decision. Today, one question torments him himself: "What would happen if that night he did not replace his sick partner and in his place was not an engineer, but a military commander who was used to obeying instructions?"
After the night incident
The next morning, commissions began to work at the CP. After a while, the reason for the false alarm of early warning sensors will be found: the optics reacted to sunlight reflected by clouds. A huge number of scientists, including honored academicians, developed a computer system. To admit that Stanislav Petrov did the right thing and showed heroism means to cancel the work of a whole team of the country's best minds, demanding punishment for poor-quality work. Therefore, at first the officer was promised a reward, and then they changed their minds. They realized that by starting to think and make decisions, he violated the charter. Instead of a reward, a scolding followed.
The lieutenant colonel had to justify himself to the air defense commander Yu. Votintsev for an unfilled combat log. No one wanted to admit the stress experienced by the operational duty officer, who in a few moments realized the fragility of the world.
Dismissal from the army
Stanislav Petrov, the man who prevented a world war, decided to leave the army by resigning. After spending several months in hospitals, he settled in a small apartment received from the military department in Fryazino near Moscow, having received a telephone without waiting in line. The decision was difficult, but the main reason was the illness of his wife, who passed away a few years later, leaving her son and daughter to her husband. It was a difficult period in the life of a former officer who fully realized what loneliness is.
In the nineties, the former commander of anti-missile and anti-space defense, Yuri Votintsev, the case at the Serpukhov-15 command post was declassified and made public, which made Lieutenant Colonel Petrov famous person not only at home, but also abroad.
Recognition in the West
The very situation in which a soldier in the Soviet Union did not believe the system, influencing the further development of events, plunged the Western world into shock. The "Association of Citizens of the World" at the United Nations decided to reward the hero. In January 2006, Stanislav Evgrafovich Petrov was awarded an award - a crystal figurine: "The man who prevented a nuclear war." In 2012 German funds mass media gave him a prize, and two years later, the organizing committee in Dresden awarded 25 thousand euros for the prevention of armed conflict.
During the presentation of the first award, the Americans began to initiate the creation of a documentary film about a Soviet officer. Starring Stanislav Petrov himself. The process stretched for long years due to lack of funds. The picture was released in 2014, causing a mixed reaction in the country.
American PR
Official version Russian state events of 1983 was expressed in the documents submitted to the UN. It follows from them that the SA lieutenant colonel alone did not save the world. For KP "Serpukhov -15" is not the only object exercising control over the launch of missiles.
The forums are discussing the events of 1983, where professionals express their opinion about a kind of PR, inflated by the Americans to take control of the entire nuclear potential of the country. Many question the awards presented, in their opinion, to Petrov Stanislav Evgrafovich, absolutely undeservedly.
But there are those who consider the actions of Lieutenant Colonel Petrov to be invaluable by their own country.
Quoted by Kevin Costner
In the 2014 film, a Hollywood star meets the main character and is so imbued with his fate that he makes a speech to the film crew, which cannot leave anyone indifferent. He admitted that he only plays those who are better and stronger than him, but the real heroes are people like Lieutenant Colonel Petrov, who made a decision that affected the life of every person around the world. By choosing not to fire missiles back at the United States in response to the system's message about the attack, he saved the lives of many people, now forever bound by this decision.
On the night of September 26, while Petrov was on duty, an alarm sounded - the computer reported the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile from an American military base. No more than 15 minutes were left for reflection, the decision to inform the country's leadership had to be taken immediately.
At the height of the Cold War
Stanislav Evgrafovich Petrov was born on September 7, 1939 in Vladivostok. Three generations of men in his family have made military career, and the young man decided to follow in their footsteps. He entered the Kiev Higher Radio Engineering School, and in 1972 went to serve at the Serpukhov-15 command post, 100 kilometers from Moscow. The duties of the lieutenant colonel included monitoring the proper functioning of the satellites in the missile attack warning system.
By September 1983, relations between Moscow and Washington were extremely tense. The American press regularly published materials about potential threats from the "evil empire", and the Soviet press responded similarly. On September 1, 1983, 21 years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, a South Korean Boeing 747 was shot down over Sakhalin. Ronald Reagan called it "a crime against humanity that must never be forgotten" and "an act of barbarism." On board were 23 crew members and 246 passengers. "Boeing" deviated from the course by 500 kilometers and entered the airspace Soviet Union. The plane was shot down by a Su-15 interceptor.
"I was just doing my job"
On the night of September 26, Stanislav Petrov was not supposed to be at work - he replaced his colleague on duty. Suddenly, an alarm sounded: the satellite transmitted a message about the launch of several missiles from military bases in the United States. “It was like snow on the head. Zero hours fifteen minutes on an electronic clock. Suddenly, a siren starts to roar, a banner “Start!” flashes. in big blood-red letters... I got up from the console and my heart sank. I see people are confused. The operators turned their heads, jumped up from their seats, everyone was looking at me. I was frightened, frankly," Petrov said in an interview with Channel Five. Panic seized those present, and he ordered them to take their posts.
The lieutenant colonel suspected an error, although the check he carried out after the alarm spoke of complete serviceability. According to the instructions, he was supposed to report on what was happening to the leadership and, within 28 minutes after the signal received, receive an order for a return launch. But Petrov did not do this, despite the functioning of 30 levels of health checks of the warning system. As it turned out later, Soviet sensors responded to sunlight reflected from the clouds.
Stanislav Petrov. (globallookpress.com)
Information about the incident on September 26 was declassified only in 1993. In an interview, Stanislav Petrov repeatedly said that he did not consider himself a hero - the military "just did his job." Later, the largest European media wrote about him, shot several documentaries.
After the resignation, Petrov settled in the suburbs. In 2013, the lieutenant colonel became a laureate of the Dresden Prize, which is awarded for the prevention of armed conflicts. He died in May 2017, but the media reported this only in September.
Last updated 09/14/2018
Making a choice and being responsible for it is never easy. Even when it comes only to your own life. It is even more difficult to choose if the fate of people depends on this decision.
Life on a string
September 26, 1983 lieutenant colonel Stanislav Petrov had to decide the fate of billions human lives. Moreover, to decide in conditions when only a few seconds remained for reflection.
In the fall of 1983, the world seemed to have gone mad. American President Ronald Reagan obsessed with the idea crusade” against the Soviet Union, brought the heat of hysteria in the West to the limit. Contributed to this and the incident with the South Korean "Boeing", shot down on Far East September 1.
After that, in the United States and other countries, the hottest heads in all seriousness called for "revenge" on the USSR, including with the use of nuclear weapons.
The Soviet Union was headed by that time a seriously ill Yuri Andropov, and in general, the composition of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU was not distinguished by youth and health. However, there was no one who wanted to give the descent to the adversary and give in to him. And in general, in Soviet society, American pressure was perceived extremely negatively. A country that has survived the Great Patriotic War is generally difficult to scare with anything.
At the same time, anxiety was in the air. It seemed that everything was really hanging by a thin thread.
Military Dynasty Analyst
At that time, in the closed military town of Serpukhov-15, Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov was on duty at the command post of the space-based missile attack warning system.
In the Petrov family, three generations of men were military men, and Stanislav continued the dynasty. After graduating from the Kiev Higher Engineering Radio Engineering School in 1972, he arrived in 1972 to serve in Serpukhov-15.
Petrov was responsible for the proper functioning of the satellites that were part of the missile attack warning system. The work is hard, calls to services occurred at night, and on weekends, and on holidays - any problems had to be eliminated promptly.
Lieutenant Colonel Petrov was the chief analyst in Serpukhov-15, and not a full-time duty officer at the command post. However, about twice a month, analysts also took a place at the desk on duty.
And the situation when it was necessary to decide the fate of the world fell precisely on the duty of Stanislav Petrov.
A random person could not become a duty officer at such an object. The training lasted up to two years, despite the fact that all the officers already had a higher military education. Each time, the attendants received a detailed briefing.
However, everyone already understood what they were responsible for. Minesweeper is wrong only once - the old truth. But the sapper risks only himself, and the error of the person on duty at such an object can cost the lives of hundreds of millions and billions of people.
Stanislav Petrov. year 2013. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
phantom attack
On the night of September 26, 1983, the missile attack warning system dispassionately recorded the launch of a combat missile from one of the American bases. In the shift room in Serpukhov-15, sirens howled. All eyes turned to Lieutenant Colonel Petrov.
He acted in strict accordance with the instructions - he checked the functioning of all systems. Everything turned out to be in good condition, and the computer persistently pointed to the “deuce” - this is the code for the highest probability that a missile attack on the USSR was actually happening.
Moreover, the system recorded several more launches from the same missile base. According to all computer data, the United States of America started a nuclear war against the Soviet Union.
Despite all the preparation, Stanislav Petrov himself later admitted that he was in deep shock. The legs were wadded.
According to the instructions, then the lieutenant colonel was supposed to report on the US attack to the head of state, Yuri Andropov. After that, the Soviet leader would have 10-12 minutes left to make a decision and give the command to retaliate. And then both countries will disappear in the flames of nuclear fires.
At the same time, Andropov's decision would be based precisely on the information of the military, and the likelihood that a strike on the United States would be delivered is extremely high.
It is not known how the full-time duty officer would have behaved, but the chief analyst Petrov, who had worked with the system for many years, allowed himself not to believe her. Years later, he said that he proceeded from the postulate that a computer, by definition, is a fool. The probability that the system was wrong was supported by another purely practical consideration - it is extremely doubtful that the United States, having started a war against the USSR, would have struck from only one base. And there were no launches from other American bases.
As a result, Petrov decided to consider the signal of a nuclear attack false. About which he informed all the services by phone. True, there was only special communications in the duty officer's room, and Petrov sent his assistant to the next room to call on a regular phone.
I sent it simply because the lieutenant colonel's own legs did not obey.
Stanislav Petrov Photo: www.globallookpress.com
The fate of mankind and the blank journal
What it was like to survive the next few tens of minutes, only Stanislav Petrov knows. And what if he was wrong, and nuclear charges now begin to explode in Soviet cities?
But there were no explosions. Lieutenant Colonel Petrov was not mistaken. The world, without knowing it, received the right to life from the hands of a Soviet officer.
As it turned out later, the cause of the false alarm was a flaw in the system itself, namely, the illumination of the sensors of the satellite included in the system, sunlight reflected from high-altitude clouds. The shortcoming was eliminated, and the missile attack warning system successfully continued its work.
And immediately after the emergency, Lieutenant Colonel Petrov received a stick-in from his superiors - for the fact that during the check he did not have a combat log filled out. Petrov himself logically asked: why? A telephone handset in one hand, a microphone in the other, American missile launches in front of your eyes, a siren in your ears, and you need to decide the fate of mankind in a matter of seconds. And it is impossible to add later, not in real time - a criminally punishable act.
On the other hand, General Yuri Votintsev, chief Petrov, can also be understood - the world was put on the brink nuclear disaster, there must be someone to blame? Getting to the creators of the system is not so easy, but the duty officer is right next to him. And even if he saved the world, did he not fill out the magazine?!
Stanislav Petrov. 2011. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
It's just that kind of work
However, no one began to punish the lieutenant colonel for this incident. The service continued as usual. But after a while, Stanislav Petrov quit himself - he was simply tired of irregular working hours and endless worries.
He continued to deal with space systems, but already as a civilian specialist.
The world learned about who it owes its life to only 10 years later. Moreover, none other than General Yuri Votintsev, who mercilessly scolded Lieutenant Colonel Petrov for an unfilled magazine, told about this in the Pravda newspaper.
From that moment on, the retired lieutenant colonel, modestly living in the Moscow region, was constantly visited by journalists. There were also letters from ordinary people who thanked Petrov for saving the world.
In January 2006, in New York at the UN Headquarters, Stanislav Petrov was presented with a special award from the international public organization Association of World Citizens. It is a crystal figurine "Hand holding the globe" with the inscription "To the man who prevented nuclear war" engraved on it.
In February 2012, in Baden-Baden, Stanislav Petrov was awarded the German Media Prize. In February 2013, the retired Lieutenant Colonel was awarded the Dresden Prize for the Prevention of Armed Conflict.
Stanislav Evgrafovich Petrov himself said about himself in an interview: “I am just an ordinary officer who did his job. It’s bad when you start thinking about yourself more than you’re worth.”
It became known that Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov died back in May 2017 at the age of 77 from congestive pneumonia. His son .
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