Stanislav Petrov

Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov (Russian: Станисла́в Евгра́фович Петро́в; 9 September 1939 – 19 May 2017)^[3] was a lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defence Forces.

Stanislav Petrov
Petrov at his house in 2016
Born	Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov (1939-09-09)September 9, 1939[1][2] Vladivostok, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died	May 19, 2017(2017-05-19) (aged 77) Fryazino, Russian Federation
Cause of death	Pneumonia
Known for	1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service/branch	Soviet Air Defense Forces
Rank	Lieutenant colonel

On September 26, 1983, just 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 five more. Petrov judged the reports to be a false alarm,^[4] and his decision is credited with having prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its NATO allies that could have resulted in large-scale nuclear war.

Investigation later confirmed that the Soviet satellite warning system had indeed malfunctioned.^[5]