Translated by Tatiana Rudyak
On the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons an installation was opened in Saint Petersbourg, Russia. It was dedicated to Stanislav Petrov - a man who averted a potential nuclear war.
Stanislav Petrov was the officer on duty in the missile attack warning system headquarters on a secret military base in Serpukhov 15 near Moscow.
During the night of September 26th 1983, the system signalled that ballistic missiles were fired from the territory of the USA. Following his instructions, Petrov should have immediately alerted his commanding officers and get an order for a response launch, but he did not do it.
Petrov doubted that the USA decided to launch a missile attack on the USSR. He was taught, along with other officers, that the attack should be simultaneous, from all the bases at once. Using the government connection line, Petrov reported a computer glitch. After an investigation, it turned out that Soviet sensors mistook sunlight reflecting from the clouds for an American missile launch.
At the end of 2024, the President of Russia declared that the Russian government will amend the nuclear doctrine so that Russia would be able to respond with a nuclear strike to non-nuclear bombs and drone attacks.
