Stanislav petrov cold war. The man who saved the world. Stanislav Evgrafovich Petrov. Threat of nuclear war

Filmed back in 2014, the feature documentary film "The Man Who Saved the World" is only now being released on the screens of our country. Premiere in cinemas from February 22. This is the directorial debut of Danish Peter Anthony, who made the film thanks to a Danish-Latvian-US co-production. Alas, the documentary film about a real Russian hero was shot not by our filmmakers, but by foreigners. Of course, this is strange, but not surprising; it is insulting, but still joyful that at least in this way our compatriots will see, recognize and hear the words of Stanislav Petrov, the man who saved the world from nuclear war. The film premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival and won two awards. I would like to note right away that the reconstruction of events is intertwined with modern documentary footage, so the film is more like a feature film, rather than a traditional documentary.

The plot of the picture tells us about the fate of a simple Russian man, a forgotten, abandoned, embittered and very lonely old man. He lives his modest life, does not interfere with anyone and does not want to be disturbed, but one day a knock on the door changes absolutely everything. Arriving foreign journalists, with the support of various funds and organizations, invite Stanislav Petrov to visit America and tell the whole world about the events of September 26, 1983. Together with a young translator, the main character goes on a great journey, where incredible events, amazing meetings, interesting dialogues and truly sincere words of gratitude from completely unfamiliar people await him, but they know those events that could destroy the whole world in an instant. Although at the same time the viewer himself will hear unexpected confessions, terrifying revelations and just a heart-to-heart conversation between two ordinary interlocutors. But still, the main goal for Petrov personally on this trip was to meet his hero, whom he loves and respects with all his heart for his work and work. His dream is to meet actor Kevin Costner. The viewer is waiting for an unforgettable meeting of two completely different characters, but very similar and understanding each other.

Of course, some will long and carefully convince everyone of some kind of propaganda and some kind of evil intentions that the authors of the film pursued. But I will say one thing, that this film, if you listen, does not divide different peoples and cultures, but, on the contrary, with the words of Petrov, the authors want to unite the whole world, so that instead of the sounds of exploding bombs, the sounds of joyful laughter of small children can be heard, and that they will never knew all the horrors of war and total annihilation.

As for the film itself, everything here is done at a very high level. Of course, there are visual irregularities and this is up to the taste and color of the viewer's preferences. To a greater extent, the film speaks Russian, but there are episodes purely in English without the participation of a translator. Only Russian actors take part in the reconstructions of historical events, and they did an excellent job with their task. Incredible acting presentation will impress even the most picky moviegoers. And although in some moments the real Petrov overplays in emotions, but on the whole the picture is sustained in a competent artistic style with an excellent storyline, where we see a good plot, an interesting main part and a powerful finale with an amazing semantic message for all mankind. Some dialogues take to the soul, and monologues, in general, plunge into the strongest thoughtfulness, but still the story turned out to be bright, dynamic and memorable, after which you want to run out into the street with tears in your eyes, look at the blue sky, breathe in with big breasts and say the words gratitude to our parents, our loved ones, friends and the Lord God for every day we live, for kindness, love and the opportunity to just live and see how our children live, how they grow up, grow stronger and believe in us, believe in their strength, and in that that only together we can make our world safer. Not a bunch of some officials or the military, but only we and only together. Be sure to watch this film, advise others and remember that there is nothing more beautiful in life than a clear sky, bright sun and happy smiles of our children.

P.S. Stanislav Petrov died on May 19, 2017 at the age of 77 in poverty and complete oblivion. This was not reported by any major Russian media. The text about Petrov's death was published only in Rodina magazine, which does not even have an electronic version.

The man who saved the earth. Real events!

30 years ago, humanity could have disappeared if not for this man from Fryazino:

In the photo, Stanislav Evgrafovich Petrov (born 1939) is a Soviet officer, retired lieutenant colonel.

Wikipedia gives rather dry facts about the events of 30 years ago. I found a good description of those events in wildmale :
“On the night of September 26, 1983, the country was sleeping. The world was anxious, the Cold War reached its climax, two weeks ago a South Korean passenger Boeing was shot down, accidentally violating the border of the USSR. America and the entire “progressive” world turned on the “evil empire” .

And suddenly. At the Serpukhov-15 command post, the latest space-based missile detection system detects the launch of several intercontinental ballistic missiles from the United States aimed at Russia.
“The siren at the checkpoint is roaring with might and main, the red letters are blazing. The shock, of course, is colossal,” Petrov said later. “Everyone jumped up from behind the consoles, they were looking at me. "We did everything that was necessary. We double-checked the functioning of all systems. Thirty levels of verification, one after another. Reports are coming in: everything matches, the probability is two. Highest."
Petrov knew that he must immediately report the situation to the top leadership of the country, at that time Andropov. I understood that with a probability of 99.9%, Andropov, who was not prone to reflections, would give the order for a large-scale retaliatory strike.
The seconds are running. EVERYONE LOOKES AT PETROV.
“In those two or three minutes you can’t really analyze anything,” says Petrov many years later. “It remains intuition. I had two arguments. Firstly, missile attacks do not start from one base, they take off from all at once. Secondly, by definition, a computer is a fool. You never know what it can take for a launch."
Later, American journalists tried to find out from which base the Russian satellite detected the launch of the missiles: “What difference does it make to you? There would be no America anyway,” Petrov replied.
Relying on intuition, Petrov took the further fate of the world under his own responsibility, turned off the alarm and fixed the start of the super-sophisticated system as a "false positive".
It soon became clear that he was right. The missile detection system reacted to solar glare from high clouds, mistaking them for a fiery missile trail.

The next day, Serpukhov-15 was full of commissions. In the heat of the moment, Petrov was promised numerous awards, but they soon caught on - after all, he violated the charter, being a cog, he began to think and make decisions. In addition, he did not fill out the combat log on time.
Yuri Votintsev, then commander of the anti-missile and anti-space defense of the USSR, interrogated Petrov. "He asks why your combat log is just not full at the time?" - recalls Petrov. - I explain to him that in one hand I had a tube through which I reported the situation, in the other - a microphone, which strengthened my commands for subordinates. There was nothing to write. But he does not let up: "Why didn't you fill it out later, when the alarm ended?"
In short, Petrov did not receive any encouragement for preventing the 3rd World War. Got a scolding. What Petrov understands:
- If you reward me for this incident, then someone must have suffered very much for it. First of all, those who developed the early warning system. Big academics who have been allocated huge billions. It’s also good that I didn’t completely rake for a magazine.

History has been classified. For many years, even his wife did not know that Petrov, whom she habitually sawed for uncovered pasta and scattered socks, once saved the world.
Declassified in 1998.
Petrov remained a lieutenant colonel and soon after that story resigned - saving the world a second time was too much even for him.
In our country, this story is not advertised for many reasons (including: violation of military regulations, failure of the space system).
I accidentally found an article about Petrov in the English-language Wikipedia and used English-language sources.

In 2006, in New York, at the UN Headquarters, Petrov was presented with a baseball cap figurine "Hand holding the Globe" with an engraved inscription: "The man who prevented nuclear war."
She is still gathering dust next to Soviet crystal and herring in the sideboard of a modest panel in Fryazino, where a pensioner, retired lieutenant colonel Petrov now lives.
Stanislav Evgrafovich, you are a holy man. Thank you."

For this incident, he received severe stress, several months of hospitals, dismissal from the army, an apartment on the outskirts of Fryazino near Moscow, and a telephone without a queue.

However, in the world they remember and know about him, though they give mainly figurines:
1. 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.
2. On February 24, 2012 in Baden-Baden, Stanislav Petrov was awarded the 2011 German Media Prize.
3. February 17, 2013 became the winner of the Dresden Prize, awarded for the prevention of armed conflicts. (€ 25.000)

An interview with Petrov appeared on the BBC today. This is how he looks now.

In 1983, a new round of the Cold War fell, associated with the actions of US President Ronald Reagan, who called the Soviet Union an evil empire. In the spring of this year, American aviation is conducting exercises on conditional bombardment of the territory of the Kuril Islands, and pouring oil on the fire, shot down on September 1, 1983 by a Soviet fighter, a Korean Boeing. Against the backdrop of these events, Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Evgrafovich Petrov faced the question of starting a nuclear war or not.

Sky Observation Center

The Celestial Observation Center was located 100 kilometers from Moscow, but in fact it was the Serpukhov-15 command post, which received and processed information received from the modern Oko space early warning system. Upon receiving a signal about a missile attack, a message was sent from the point to the leadership of the USSR, which made a decision on retaliatory actions.

On the night of September 26-27, 1984, at 0.15 minutes, the missile attack warning system displayed a message on the computer that a ballistic missile had been fired from the United States, the target of which was the USSR. At that time, Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov was on duty at the command post.

nuclear attack

The lieutenant colonel himself recalled the events of that night as follows: “The siren yells like a catechumen. On top of the wall are big red letters: "START". So, the rocket definitely went. I looked down at my combat crew. Someone even jumped up from their seats, they turn to look at me. He raised his voice and ordered to immediately take up their posts. I had to check everything. It could not be that this is actually a missile with warheads ... "

"Eye" tracked the launch from the exit of the rocket from the mine. According to the instructions, the duty officer was only required to study the information issued by the computer and report the crisis situation to the command. Stanislav Evgrafovich doubted and could not understand why the attack was carried out with only one missile.

One step before the apocalypse

In an interview with reporters, the lieutenant colonel said: “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.”

After Petrov hung up, the siren roared again and the system announced the launch of a second rocket across the USSR. Within three minutes, the command post received a message about three more launches and the inscription "START" changed to "ROCKET ATTACK".

Stanislav Petrov had 10-15 minutes to make a decision. While the officer on duty with the nuclear suitcase was running to the head of the USSR Andropov, the officer was analyzing the situation. Specialists monitoring the visual contact with the missiles replied that they did not see anything, the radar also confirmed the absence of a nuclear threat in the sky. The lieutenant colonel took responsibility and reported to the center that the computer system had malfunctioned.

During the investigation, it turned out that the cause of the failure was the exposure of the satellite's sensors to sunlight, which was reflected from high-altitude clouds.

After the crisis

The order and the next rank were not given to Stanislav Petrov, and a year after the false attack, due to the state of health of his wife, the lieutenant colonel retired. The authorities filed a complaint with the officer about the unfilled combat log. To this, he replied that he physically could not make notes at the time of the attack, and it was illegal to make additions after the attack and Petrov did not want to go to prison.

The identity of the hero became known in 1993, and the then commander of Petrov, General Votintsev, named him. For saving the world, the lieutenant colonel in 2013 received the Dresden Prize of 25 thousand euros for the prevention of war. Earlier, Petrov's merit was noted by the "Association of World Citizens", which gave him a statuette with the inscription "To the man who prevented a nuclear war."

Stanislav Petrov died on May 19, 2017 at the age of 77 in his small apartment in the town of Fryazino near Moscow. In a recent interview, the lieutenant colonel said that he once received a $500 transfer made by American actor Kevin Costner as a token of gratitude.

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 deployed 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 the 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, international relations 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 a 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 the world war.

The danger has passed

Today, a retired lieutenant colonel living in the city of Fryazino near Moscow 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. The events of the 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 a famous person not only in his homeland, 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, the German media gave him an award, and two years later, the organizing committee in Dresden awarded 25,000 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 dragged on for many years due to lack of funds. The picture was released in 2014, causing a mixed reaction in the country.

American PR

The official version of the Russian state of the events of 1983 was expressed in 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 careers, 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. The Boeing veered 500 kilometers off course and entered the airspace of the 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.