Stanislav Petrov

Petrov was born on 7 September 1939 to a Russian family near Vladivostok. His father, Yevgraf, flew fighter aircraft during World War II.{{cite news |page=B14 |date=19 September 2017 |first1=Sewell |last1=Chan |first2=Sophia |last2=Kishkovsky |first3=Oleg |last3=Matsnev |access-date=4 September 2021 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/world/europe/stanislav-petrov-nuclear-war-dead.html |title=Stanislav Petrov, 77; Soviet Who Helped Avert a Nuclear War |newspaper=The New York Times |publication-place=New York City, New York, United States|volume=CLXVI |issue=186 |archive-date=19 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170919023131/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/world/europe/stanislav-petrov-nuclear-war-dead.html |editor1-first=A.G. |editor1-last=Sulzberger |editor1-link=A.G. Sulzberger |editor2-first=Dean |editor2-last=Baquet |editor2-link=Dean Baquet |editor3-first=Joseph |editor3-last=Kahn |editor3-link=Joseph Kahn (journalist) |department=International news |issn=1553-8095 |oclc=1645522 }} His mother was a nurse.

Petrov enrolled at the Kiev Military Aviation Engineering Academy of the Soviet Air Forces, and after graduating in 1972 he joined the Soviet Air Defence Forces. In the early 1970s, he was assigned to the organization that oversaw the new early warning system intended to detect ballistic missile attacks from NATO countries.{{cite news |first=Ashitha |last=Nagesh |date=18 September 2017 |access-date=4 September 2021 |title=Stanislav Petrov – The man who quietly saved the world – Has died aged 77 |newspaper=Metro |url=https://metro.co.uk/2017/09/18/stanislav-petrov-the-man-who-quietly-saved-the-world-has-died-aged-77-6937015 |archive-date=18 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918173759/https://www.metro.co.uk/2017/09/18/stanislav-petrov-the-man-who-quietly-saved-the-world-has-died-aged-77-6937015 }}

Petrov was married to Raisa, and had a son, Dmitri, and a daughter, Yelena. His wife died of cancer in 1997.

{{main|1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident}}

On 26 September 1983, during the Cold War, the Soviet nuclear early warning system Oko reported the launch of one intercontinental ballistic missile with four more missiles behind it from the United States. Petrov, suspecting a false alarm, decided to wait for a confirmation that never came. According to the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN, nuclear retaliation requires that multiple sources confirm an attack. In any case, the incident exposed a serious flaw in the Soviet early warning system.

Had Petrov reported incoming American missiles, his superiors might have launched an assault against the United States,{{cite news |first=Pavel |last=Aksenov |date=26 September 2013 |title=Stanislav Petrov: The man who may have saved the world |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24280831 |access-date=4 September 2021 |publication-place=London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain |editor1-first=Fran |editor1-last=Unsworth |editor1-link=Fran Unsworth |editor2-first=Mary |editor2-last=Hockaday |editor2-link=Mary Hockaday |editor3-first=Huw |editor3-last=Edwards |editor3-link=Huw Edwards |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |archive-date=8 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308000459/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24280831 }} precipitating a corresponding nuclear response from the United States. Petrov declared the system's indication a false alarm. Later, it was apparent that he was right: no missiles were approaching and the computer detection system was malfunctioning. It was subsequently determined that the false alarm had been created by a rare alignment of sunlight on high-altitude clouds above North Dakota and the Molniya orbits of the satellites, an error later corrected by cross-referencing a geostationary satellite.{{cite web|url=http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Molniya%20orbit|title=Molniya orbit|access-date=20 August 2011|archive-date=26 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226132906/http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Molniya%20orbit|url-status=live}}{{cite AV media |title=1983: The Brink of the Apocalypse (Documentary) |publisher=Channel Four Television Corporation/Flashback Productions/Discovery Channel Pictures |medium=Motion picture (television broadcast) |publication-place=London, England, United Kingdom |date=5 January 2008 |access-date=8 September 2021 |people=Henry Chancellor (director and producer), Gina McKee (narrator), Richard Bright (producer), Cherry Brewer (producer), Taylor Downing (producer), Sam Organ (producer) |editor1-first=Jeff |editor1-last=Baynes |editor2-first=Owen |editor2-last=Parker |editor3-first=Alice |editor3-last=Norris |editor4-first=Alison |editor4-last=Adams |editor5-first=Elizabeth |editor5-last=Marcussen |editor6-first=Aidan |editor6-last=Farrell |editor7-first=Andrew |editor7-last=Mitchell |minutes=29:06 |department=Channel 4 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPit2BGNKwo&t=1746s |via=YouTube |archive-date=9 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909000201/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPit2BGNKwo&t=1746s |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine |title=The Man Who Saved the World From Possible Nuclear War Has Died Age 77 |last=Lui |first=Kevin |magazine=Time |date=18 September 2017 |volume=190 |issn=0040-781X |oclc=1311479 |publication-place=New York City, New York, United States |publisher=Time USA, LLC (Marc & Lynne Benioff) |editor1-first=Edward |editor1-last=Felsenthal |editor1-link=Edward Felsenthal |editor2-first=Marc |editor2-last=Benioff |issue=10 |url=https://www.time.com/4947492/stanislav-petrov-soviet-officer-nuclear-war |archive-date=20 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920035125/https://www.time.com/4947492/stanislav-petrov-soviet-officer-nuclear-war }}

Petrov later indicated that the influences on his decision included that he had been told a U.S. strike would be all-out, so five missiles seemed an illogical start; that the launch detection system was new and, in his view, not yet wholly trustworthy; that the message passed through 30 layers of verification too quickly;{{cite news |issn=0013-0613 |newspaper=The Economist |publication-place=London, England, United Kingdom |publisher=The Economist Group (The Economist Newspaper Limited) |editor1-first=Zanny Minton |editor1-last=Beddoes |editor1-link=Zanny Minton Beddoes |editor2-first=Tom |editor2-last=Standage |editor2-link=Tom Standage |url=https://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21729727-man-who-saved-world-was-77-stanislav-petrov-was-declared-have-died-september-18th |archive-date=28 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928220347/https://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21729727-man-who-saved-world-was-77-stanislav-petrov-was-declared-have-died-september-18th |editor3-first=Lara Salameh |editor3-last=Boro |date=30 September 2017 |title=Obituary: Stanislav Petrov was declared to have died on September 18th }} and that ground radar failed to pick up corroborating evidence, even after minutes of delay.{{cite news |newspaper=The Washington Post |publication-place=Washington, D.C., United States |first=David |last=Hoffman |page=A19 |title='I Had A Funny Feeling in My Gut' |date=10 February 1999 |access-date=4 September 2021 |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=2269358 |editor1-first=Donald E. |editor1-last=Graham |editor1-link=Donald Edward Graham |editor2-first=Leonard |editor2-last=Downie Jr. |editor2-link=Leonard Downie Jr. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/coldwar/soviet10.htm |archive-date=18 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181218193954/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/coldwar/soviet10.htm }} However, in a 2013 interview, Petrov said at the time he was never sure that the alarm was erroneous. He felt that his civilian training helped him make the right decision. He said that his colleagues were all professional soldiers with purely military training and, following instructions, would have reported a missile launch if they had been on his shift.

Petrov later said "I had obviously never imagined that I would ever face that situation. It was the first and, as far as I know, also the last time that such a thing had happened, except for simulated practice scenarios."

In a later interview, Petrov stated that the famous red button was never made operational, as military psychologists did not want to put the decision of initiating a nuclear war into the hands of one single person.{{cite news |publisher=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH |publication-place=Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany |archive-date=19 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130219202029/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/menschen/offizier-petrow-im-gespraech-der-rote-knopf-hat-nie-funktioniert-12084911.html |title=Officer Petrow im gespräch: "Der rote Knopf hat nie funktioniert" |trans-title=Conversation with Officer Petrov: "The red button never worked" |language=German |date=18 February 2013 |access-date=8 September 2021 |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/menschen/offizier-petrow-im-gespraech-der-rote-knopf-hat-nie-funktioniert-12084911.html |work=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung |editor1-first=Gerald |editor1-last=Braunberger |editor2-first=Martin |editor2-last=Franke |editor3-first=Tatjana |editor3-last=Heid |editor4-first=Simon |editor4-last=Hüsgen |editor5-first=Jürgen |editor5-last=Kaube |editor6-first=Philipp |editor6-last=Johannßen |editor7-first=Berthold |editor7-last=Kohler |editor8-first=Lisa |editor8-last=Konstantinidis }}{{cite journal |first=Michael |last=Peppard |title=Accidental Armaggedon |volume=142 |issue=6 |date=20 March 2015 |access-date=4 September 2021 |page=6 |journal=Commonweal |publisher=Commonweal Foundation |publication-place=Bolinas, California, United States|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/38a21b9c8ef68715b7067e832fe91061/1.pdf |id={{ProQuest| }} |archive-date=5 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905024554/https://www.proquest.com/openview/38a21b9c8ef68715b7067e832fe91061/1.pdf |url-status=live }}

There is some confusion as to precisely what Petrov's military role was in this incident. Petrov, as an individual, was not in a position where he could have single-handedly launched any of the Soviet missile arsenal. His sole duty was to monitor satellite surveillance equipment and report missile attack warnings up the chain of command; top Soviet leadership would have decided whether to launch a retaliatory attack against the West. But Petrov's role was crucial in providing information to make that decision. According to Bruce G. Blair, a Cold War nuclear strategies expert and nuclear disarmament advocate, formerly with the Center for Defense Information, "The top leadership, given only a couple of minutes to decide, told that an attack had been launched, would make a decision to retaliate."{{cite news |title=This week in history: Stanislav Petrov avoids nuclear war |first=Daniel |last=Bensadoun |date=1 October 2010 |access-date=4 September 2021 |work=The Jerusalem Post |url=https://www.jpost.com/International/This-week-in-history-Stanislav-Petrov-avoids-nuclear-war |publication-place=Jerusalem, Israel |editor2-first=Inbar |editor2-last=Ashkenazi |editor3-first=Yaakov |editor3-last=Katz |publisher= Palestine Post Ltd./Jpost Inc. (Jerusalem Post Group) |issn=0021-597X |editor1-first=David |editor1-last=Horovitz |editor1-link=David Horovitz |archive-date=2 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302111314/https://www.jpost.com/International/This-week-in-history-Stanislav-Petrov-avoids-nuclear-war }}{{cite journal |journal=Arms Control Today |volume=50 |issue=3 |date=1 April 2020 |pages=10–15 |title='Skynet' Revisited: The Dangerous Allure of Nuclear Command Automation |first=Michael T. |last=Klare |publisher=Arms Control Association |publication-place=Washington, D.C., United States|id={{ProQuest| }} |access-date=4 September 2021 |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/b3c456f8a122d0454502842f065af7c5 |format=PDF |archive-date=5 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905024552/https://www.proquest.com/openview/b3c456f8a122d0454502842f065af7c5 |url-status=live }} In contrast, nuclear security scholar Pavel Podvig argues that, while Petrov did the right thing, "there were at least three assessment and decision-making layers above the command center of the army that operated the satellites", so that Petrov's report would not have directly led to a nuclear launch. In addition, he states that, even if the US strike was deemed to be real, the USSR would only have commenced its own strike after actual nuclear explosions on its territory.{{cite journal | url=https://russianforces.org/blog/2022/10/did_stanislav_petrov_save_the_.shtml | title=Did Stanislav Petrov save the world in 1983? It's complicated | journal=Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces | date=22 October 2022 | last1=Podvig | first1=Pavel | access-date=24 October 2022 | archive-date=24 October 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024144030/https://russianforces.org/blog/2022/10/did_stanislav_petrov_save_the_.shtml | url-status=live }}

In 2006, when Petrov was first honored for his actions at the United Nations, the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations issued a press release contending that a single person could not have started or prevented a nuclear war, stating in part, "Under no circumstances a decision to use nuclear weapons could be made or even considered in the Soviet Union or in the United States on the basis of data from a single source or a system. For this to happen, a confirmation is necessary from several systems: ground-based radars, early warning satellites, intelligence reports, etc."{{cite press release |first=Vitaly |last=Churkin |author-link=Vitaly Churkin |archive-date=28 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060228123249/http://www.un.int/russia/other/060119eprel.pdf |url=http://www.un.int/russia/other/060119eprel.pdf |access-date= 4 September 2021 |date=19 January 2006 |publication-place=New York City, New York, United States |title=Press release: On presentation of the world citizens award to Stanislav Petrov |department=Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations |agency=United Nations |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation }}

But nuclear security expert Bruce G. Blair has said that at that time, the U.S.–Soviet relationship had deteriorated to the point where "the Soviet Union as a system—not just the Kremlin, not just Andropov, not just the KGB—but as a system, was geared to expect an attack and to retaliate very quickly to it. It was on hair-trigger alert. It was very nervous and prone to mistakes and accidents. The false alarm that happened on Petrov's watch could not have come at a more dangerous, intense phase in US–Soviet relations." At that time, according to Oleg Kalugin, a former KGB chief of foreign counterintelligence, "The danger was in the Soviet leadership thinking, 'The Americans may attack, so we better attack first.'"{{cite web |url=http://hnn.us/articles/1709.html#bombs9-5-03 |work=The Baltimore Sun |title=The Nuclear War that Almost Happened in 1983 |date=6 November 2003 |access-date=20 August 2011 |archive-date=19 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060819033034/http://hnn.us/articles/1709.html#bombs9-5-03 |url-status=live }}

Petrov underwent intense questioning by his superiors about his judgment. Initially, he was praised for his decision. General Yury Votintsev, then commander of the Soviet Air Defense's Missile Defense Units, who was the first to hear Petrov's report of the incident (and the first to reveal it to the public in the 1990s), states that Petrov's "correct actions" were "duly noted". Petrov himself states he was initially praised by Votintsev and promised a reward,{{cite news |title=Тот, который не нажал |trans-title=The one that didn't click |first=Yuri |last=Vasilev |language=Russian |url=https://www.flb.ru/info/27637.html |publication-place=Moscow, Russia |work=Moskovskiye Novosti |editor1-first=Vladimir |editor1-last=Gurevich |editor2-first=Arcadi |editor2-last=Gaydamak |editor2-link=Arcadi Gaydamak |publisher=FLB LLC |editor3-first=Sergey Viktorovich |editor3-last=Sokolov |archive-date=29 November 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041129144726/https://www.flb.ru/info/27637.html |editor4-first=Alexey |editor4-last=Bogomolov |editor5-first=Alexey Sergeevich |editor5-last=Chelnokov }} but recalls that he was also reprimanded for improper filing of paperwork because he had not described the incident in the war diary.{{cite news |title='How I stopped nuclear war' |first=Alan |last=Little |date=21 October 1998 |access-date=4 September 2021 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/198173.stm |website=BBC News |archive-date=8 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108234104/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/198173.stm |publication-place=London, England, United Kingdom of Great Britain |editor1-first=Fran |editor1-last=Unsworth |editor1-link=Fran Unsworth |editor2-first=Mary |editor2-last=Hockaday |editor2-link=Mary Hockaday |editor3-first=Huw |editor3-last=Edwards |editor3-link=Huw Edwards |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) }}

Petrov has said that he was neither rewarded nor punished for his actions.[http://lenta.ru/news/2006/01/20/petrov/ В Нью-Йорке россиянина наградили за спасение мира] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070327134416/http://www.lenta.ru/news/2006/01/20/petrov/ |date=27 March 2007 }}. Lenta.ru (in Russian) According to Petrov, he received no reward because the incident and other bugs found in the missile detection system embarrassed his superiors and the scientists who were responsible for it, so that if he had been officially rewarded, they would have had to be punished. He was reassigned to a less sensitive post, took early retirement (although he emphasized that he was not "forced out" of the army), and suffered a nervous breakdown.

The incident became known publicly in 1998 upon the publication of Votintsev's memoirs. Widespread media reports since then have increased public awareness of Petrov's actions.{{cite news |first=Jonathan |last=Steele |title=Stanislav Petrov obituary |date=11 October 2017 |access-date=4 September 2021 |website=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/11/stanislav-petrov-obituary |archive-date=11 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011171747/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/11/stanislav-petrov-obituary |issn=1756-3224 |oclc=60623878 |publication-place=London, England, United Kingdom |editor1-first=Katharine |editor1-last=Viner |editor1-link=Katharine Viner |publisher=Guardian Media Group plc (Scott Trust) |editor2-first=Neil |editor2-last=Berkett |editor2-link=Neil Berkett }}{{cite journal |title=Unintended Nuclear War |first1=Karl-Hans |last1=Bläsius |first2=Jörg |last2=Siekmann |journal=KI – Künstliche Intelligenz |pages=119–121 |date=27 February 2021 |volume=35 |access-date=4 September 2021 |url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13218-021-00710-0.pdf |doi=10.1007/s13218-021-00710-0 |issn=0933-1875 |issue=1 |publisher=Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V./Springer Nature |editor1-first=Daniel |editor1-last=Sonntag |editor2-first=Peter |editor2-last=Pagel |doi-access=free |archive-date=26 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926135133/http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13218-021-00710-0.pdf |url-status=live }}

After leaving the military in 1984, Petrov was hired at the same research institute that had developed the Soviet Union's early warning system. He later retired so he could care for his wife after she was diagnosed with cancer.

During a visit to the United States for the filming of the documentary The Man Who Saved the World, Petrov toured the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in May 2007 and commented, "I would never have imagined being able to visit one of the enemy's securest sites."{{Cite web|title=Stanislav Petrov (U.S. National Park Service)|url=https://www.nps.gov/people/stanislav_petrov.htm|access-date=27 September 2021|website=www.nps.gov|language=en|archive-date=27 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927192823/https://www.nps.gov/people/stanislav_petrov.htm|url-status=live}}

Petrov died on 19 May 2017 from pneumonia, though it was not widely reported until September. He was 77.{{cite news |archive-date=18 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918170724/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/18/551792129/stanislav-petrov-the-man-who-saved-the-world-dies-at-77 |first=Greg |last=Myre |title=Stanislav Petrov, 'The Man Who Saved The World,' Dies At 77 |date=18 September 2017 |access-date=4 September 2021 |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/18/551792129/stanislav-petrov-the-man-who-saved-the-world-dies-at-77 |website=National Public Radio (NPR) |publication-place=Washington, D.C., United States |publisher=National Public Radio, Inc. |editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Lansing }}{{cite news|title=Stanislav Petrov, who averted possible nuclear war, dies at 77|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41314948|access-date=19 September 2017|work=BBC News|date=19 September 2017|archive-date=18 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918225451/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41314948|url-status=live}}{{cite journal |volume=47 |issue=8 |page=31 |date=1 October 2017|id={{ProQuest| }} |first=Alicia |last=Sanders-Zakre |journal=Arms Control Today |title=Man Who 'Saved the World'Dies at 77 |publisher=Arms Control Association |publication-place=Washington, D.C., United States|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/657e5a18a81111d6bef5355be3c7ea7a |access-date=4 September 2021 |format=PDF |archive-date=5 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905024551/https://www.proquest.com/openview/657e5a18a81111d6bef5355be3c7ea7a |url-status=live }}

On 21 May 2004, the San Francisco-based Association of World Citizens gave Petrov its World Citizen Award along with a trophy and $1,000 "in recognition of the part he played in averting a catastrophe."{{cite web |url=http://www.brightstarsound.com/ |publisher=Bright Star Sound |title=Stanislav Petrov Averts a Worldwide Nuclear War |access-date=27 September 2006 |archive-date=4 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151204102623/http://www.brightstarsound.com/ |url-status=live }} In January 2006, Petrov travelled to the United States where he was honored in a meeting at the United Nations in New York City. There the Association of World Citizens presented him with a second special World Citizen Award.{{cite news |url=http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/01/20/petrovaward.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060206103808/http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/01/20/petrovaward.shtml |archive-date=6 February 2006 |title=Russian Colonel Who Averted Nuclear War Receives World Citizen Award |work=Moscow News |date=20 January 2006 |access-date=27 September 2006 }} The next day, he met American journalist Walter Cronkite at his CBS office in New York City.

That interview, in addition to other highlights of Petrov's trip to the United States, was filmed for The Man Who Saved the World,{{cite web |url=http://www.statementfilm.com/ |title=Statement Film website |publisher=Statement Film ApS |access-date=1 December 2011 |archive-date=21 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141121170034/http://www.statementfilm.com/ |url-status=live }} a narrative feature and documentary film, directed by Peter Anthony of Denmark. It premiered in October 2014 at the Woodstock Film Festival in Woodstock, New York, winning "Honorable Mention: Audience Award Winner for Best Narrative Feature" and "Honorable Mention: James Lyons Award for Best Editing of a Narrative Feature."{{cite web |first=Rachel |last=Bernstein |date=21 October 2014 |access-date=4 September 2021 |title=2014 Woodstock Film Festival Honors Darren Aronofsky, Announces Audience Awards |website=IndieWire |archive-date=10 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710090656/https://www.indiewire.com/2014/10/2014-woodstock-film-festival-honors-darren-aronofsky-announces-audience-awards-68891 |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2014/10/2014-woodstock-film-festival-honors-darren-aronofsky-announces-audience-awards-68891 |publisher=Penske Media Corporation |publication-place=Los Angeles, California, United States |editor1-first=Jay |editor1-last=Penske |editor1-link=Jay Penske |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-last=Blauvelt |editor3-first=Eric |editor3-last=Eric }}

Various internet communities commemorate 26 September as Stanislav Petrov day, following Eliezer Yudkowsky's blog post highlighting the story: "Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, take a minute to not destroy the world.".{{Cite journal |title=9/26 is Petrov Day |url=https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QtyKq4BDyuJ3tysoK/9-26-is-petrov-day |access-date=4 July 2023 |website=www.lesswrong.com |language=en |last1=Yudkowsky |first1=Eliezer |date=26 September 2007 |archive-date=4 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704083632/https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QtyKq4BDyuJ3tysoK/9-26-is-petrov-day |url-status=live }}

For his actions in averting a potential nuclear war in 1983, Petrov received the Dresden Peace Prize in Dresden, Germany, on 17 February 2013. The award included €25,000.{{Cite web|url=http://dresdner-friedenspreis.de/preistraeger/|title=Preisträger – Dresden-Preis (Prize winners – Dresden Prize)|website=Internationaler Friedenspreis|language=de-DE|access-date=28 September 2018|archive-date=11 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811131917/http://dresdner-friedenspreis.de/preistraeger/|url-status=live}} On 24 February 2012, he was given the 2011 German Media Award, presented to him at a ceremony in Baden-Baden, Germany.{{Cite news|url=https://www.deutscher-medienpreis.de/deutscher-medienpreis-20011-an-yacoobi-raheb-petrow-mukwege/|title=Deutscher Medienpreis 2011 an Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, Dr. Mitri Raheb, Stanislaw Petrow & Dr. Denis Mukwege|work=Deutscher Medienpreis|access-date=28 September 2018|language=de-DE|archive-date=28 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728043304/https://www.deutscher-medienpreis.de/deutscher-medienpreis-20011-an-yacoobi-raheb-petrow-mukwege/}}{{cite journal |last=Barash |first=David |title=Close Calls: When Nuclear Armageddon Threatened to Destroy Civilization |journal=Skeptic Magazine |publication-place=Altadena, California, United States |volume=26 |issue=1 |access-date=4 September 2021 |pages=39–46 |publisher=The Skeptics Society |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA656765713 |issn=1063-9330 |via=Gale Academic OneFile |editor1-first=Michael |editor1-last=Shermer |editor2-first=Pat |editor2-last=Linse |editor3-first=Frank |editor3-last=Miele |editor4-first=William |editor4-last=Bull }}

On 26 September 2018, he was posthumously honored in New York with the $50,000 Future of Life Award.{{cite news |issn=0096-3402 |lccn=48034039 |oclc=470268256 |publisher=Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science (Taylor and Francis) |editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Mecklin |editor2-first=Rachel |editor2-last=Bronson |editor3-first=Dan |editor3-last=Drollette Jr. |journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |publication-place=Chicago, Illinois, United States |url=https://thebulletin.org/2018/09/a-posthumous-honor-for-the-man-who-saved-the-world |archive-date=29 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929123105/https://www.thebulletin.org/2018/09/a-posthumous-honor-for-the-man-who-saved-the-world |first=Max |last=Tegmark |title=A posthumous honor for the man who saved the world |date=26 September 2018 |access-date=4 September 2021 }} At a ceremony at the National Museum of Mathematics in New York, former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said: "It is hard to imagine anything more devastating for humanity than all-out nuclear war between Russia{{sic}} and the United States. Yet this might have occurred by accident on September 26, 1983, were it not for the wise decisions of Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov. For this, he deserves humanity's profound gratitude. Let us resolve to work together to realize a world free from fear of nuclear weapons, remembering the courageous judgement of Stanislav Petrov." As Petrov had died, the award was collected by his daughter, Elena. Petrov's son Dmitri missed his flight to New York because the US embassy delayed his visa.{{cite magazine |last=Shuster |first=Samuel |title=Stanislav Petrov, the Russian Officer who averted a nuclear war |magazine=Time |date=19 September 2017 |volume=19 |url=https://www.time.com/4947879/stanislav-petrov-russia-nuclear-war-obituary |issn=0040-781X |oclc=1311479 |publication-place=New York City, New York, United States|publisher=Time USA, LLC (Marc & Lynne Benioff) |editor1-first=Edward |editor1-last=Felsenthal |editor1-link=Edward Felsenthal |editor2-first=Marc |editor2-last=Benioff |issue=10 |pages=3–5 |access-date=5 September 2021 |archive-date=5 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905024559/https://time.com/4947879/stanislav-petrov-russia-nuclear-war-obituary/ |url-status=live }}

Petrov said he did not know whether he should have regarded himself as a hero for what he did that day.{{cite web |url=https://www.brightstarsound.com/world_hero/insight.html |publisher=Bright Star Sound |title=Important Insight |quote=It is nice of them to consider me a hero. I don't know that I am. Since I am the only one in this country who has found himself in this situation, it is difficult to know if others would have acted differently. |access-date=16 December 2018 |archive-date=17 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217014814/https://www.brightstarsound.com/world_hero/insight.html |url-status=live }} In an interview for the film The Man Who Saved the World, Petrov says, "All that happened didn't matter to me—it was my job. I was simply doing my job, and I was the right person at the right time, that's all. My late wife for 10 years knew nothing about it. 'So what did you do?' she asked me. 'Nothing. I did nothing.'"

The story of the nuclear incident is portrayed in the novel La redención del camarada Petrov (The Redemption of Comrade Petrov) by Argentinian writer Eduardo Sguiglia (Edhasa, 2023).López Girondo, A. La historia del hombre que salvó a la humanidad de una catástrofe nuclear. Tiempo Argentino [Internet]. 23 April 2023. [citado 23 April 2023]. Disponible en: https://www.tiempoar.com.ar/mundo/la-historia-del-hombre-que-salvo-a-la-humanidad-de-una-catastrofe-nuclear/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423165243/https://www.tiempoar.com.ar/mundo/la-historia-del-hombre-que-salvo-a-la-humanidad-de-una-catastrofe-nuclear/ |date=23 April 2023 }}

• Vasily Arkhipov – a Soviet naval officer who refused to launch a nuclear torpedo during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
• List of nuclear close calls

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|Stanislaw Jewgrafowitsch Petrow|Stanislav Petrov}}

• [https://www.brightstarsound.com BrightStarSound.com] a tribute website, multiple pages with photos and reprints of various articles about Petrov
• [https://www.brightstarsound.com/world_hero/weekendavisen.html Nuclear War: Minuteman]
• {{IMDb title|qid=Q7749971|id=tt2277106|title=The Man Who Saved the World}}

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Category:Nuclear warfare

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