Lt. Col. Stansilav Petrov was on watch with Soviet missile defenses in 1983, when bad sensors sounded the alarm that 5 American missiles were headed for Russia. It was up to him to pass the news up the chain whether it was a real attack, which would have resulted in a retaliation order. He took a deep breath, and passed on that it must be sensor malfunction, thinking the USA would never attack with only 5 missiles.
'I was just doing my job': Soviet officer who averted nuclear war dies at age 77
Another Russian who "saved the world" was Vasili Arkhipov, who died in 1998. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Foxtrot sub he was serving on as second-in-command was near Cuba, out of communication with Russia, and being harassed by US ships. The Captain decided that war must have broken out, and wanted to launch a nuclear torpedo at the US fleet. That required the authorization of Captain, second-in-command and Political Officer. Arkhipov said "no", so the nuke was not launched.
Vasili Arkhipov - Wikipedia
'I was just doing my job': Soviet officer who averted nuclear war dies at age 77
Another Russian who "saved the world" was Vasili Arkhipov, who died in 1998. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Foxtrot sub he was serving on as second-in-command was near Cuba, out of communication with Russia, and being harassed by US ships. The Captain decided that war must have broken out, and wanted to launch a nuclear torpedo at the US fleet. That required the authorization of Captain, second-in-command and Political Officer. Arkhipov said "no", so the nuke was not launched.
Vasili Arkhipov - Wikipedia
