The officer who saved the world gave up 10 thousand euros

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The name of retired lieutenant colonel Stanislav Petrov is included in the encyclopedia. It is said about him: "Prevented the beginning of the third world war."

For the salvation of the world, Petrov was presented with many awards. And at the end of December this year, a solemn event will take place in Moscow - honoring the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Konrad Adenauer. Petrov was invited there as a guest of honor. The Germans were going to present 77-year-old Stanislav Evgrafovich with a prize - about 10 thousand euros. And he … refused!

The rockets have started

- I am a former Soviet soldier, - says Stanislav Evgrafovich. - Graduated from the Higher Military Aviation Engineering School in Kiev. By assignment, he ended up in the Moscow region, in the closed military town "Serpukhov-15". Here he worked on a new space missile attack warning system (SPRN).

An agreement was then made with the Americans: to notify in advance about any launch into space, military or civil. During my work, the United States has never violated this rule.

On the night of September 26, 1983, Petrov was at the console - his duty fell out. The time was restless in the world then. The height of the cold war. Shortly before that, the Soviet Union had shot down a South Korean passenger Boeing 747, whose pilots had violated the border. Reagan publicly calls the USSR an evil empire and scares them with Soviet aggression. The world froze on the verge of disturbing events.

“That night, I personally conducted surveillance,” recalls Petrov. He did not take his eyes off the monitor, which, as usual, was the territory of the United States, viewed from satellites. In the optical range, and in the infrared …

And suddenly the board lit up in red letters: "Start!" This means that a rocket was launched from one of the American bases. There and then the siren automatically turned on and howled. Everyone who was nearby, in alarm, gazed at the chief at the control panel - they were waiting for Petrov's reaction.

- Following the instructions, we began to check the functioning of all systems. Thirty levels of verification, one by one. The probability is the highest! I was sweating from exertion, my legs became cottony,”recalls Stanislav Evgrafovich.

And the computer continued to give signals: the second, third missiles came from the same base. Has the United States decided to strike at the USSR?

“There was no time to think, but it flashed through my head: rocket attacks from one base do not start, they take off from all at once,” says Petrov.

Why didn't he press the button

The lieutenant colonel had two options. Or report a false alarm to your superiors. Or press the panic button. And then, most likely, the third world war would begin.

How much was to make the final decision? Indeed, at that moment, the attendants were already running with a nuclear suitcase to the then head of the USSR, Yuri Andropov. Lieutenant Colonel Petrov says that from the moment the enemy launched the missile until the decision by the leadership of the Soviet Union to retaliate is no more than 28 minutes. Personally, Petrov had 10-15 minutes to make a decision.

- All data from our computer was duplicated to the higher authorities, - explains Petrov. - They wondered: 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: "The information is false."

Petrov is still amazed at his decision today. After all, the instruction, which he himself wrote, provided for unambiguously: to press the emergency button. But the brain seemed to be pierced by insight - this system failed.

“Of course, this was partly an intuitive conclusion,” says Petrov. “But over the decade during which I nursed this technique, I learned to hear every“sigh”of it, to identify every whim.

In the West, experts are sure: if he had reported that night about the US missile attack on the USSR, that is, press the button, Andropov would have responded with a missile attack … And then half a continent would have flared up.

An investigation later identified the cause of the system failure. It turned out that sunlight, reflected from the clouds, hit the satellite's sensors.

- By that time we had been working in space for a long time. And they got a little arrogant: they say, we all know about him, - says Petrov. - And what happened then, it was exactly the surprise of the cosmos.

We limited ourselves to catching up

The leadership of Petrov stood on their ears: they did not know how to explain the emergency.

- They did not want to discuss the flaws of the system and put this question in the center, they clung to the little things: I did not fill out the combat log at the burning moment. I fought back: was it really before the recordings in those minutes? I have a telephone receiver in one hand and a microphone in the other. I was giving commands at that moment. In response, they say: you had to write everything down, - the officer recalls.

Of course, a blank magazine is just an excuse. But in fact, the authorities did not know how to react to Petrov's act. On the one hand, he took responsibility and saved the world from a third world war. But on the other hand, he violated the instructions! What if the US missile launch was real?

The inspectors came to the conclusion that it was impossible to encourage Petrov. But they did not punish either. We limited ourselves to oral catch-up.

- They wrote that you were fired after that incident …

- Not true. I myself made the decision to leave: very stressful, exhausting work. Several years later he went to work at a scientific institute. Moreover, his wife fell ill (she had cancer, in 1997 the wife of Stanislav Evgrafovich died. - Ed.). Then he retired and settled in Fryazino, where I live.

Recognition abroad

For many years, eyewitnesses and witnesses kept their mouths shut. Petrov did not even tell his wife about anything. Only 10 years later, Petrov's chief, Colonel-General Votintsev, who, in fact, blasted his subordinate for an unfilled combat log, told in an interview how the world was one step away from the third world war.

Petrov was immediately found by Western journalists. Dozens of publications in different languages described the officer's story. Once Stanislav Evgrafovich was sent $ 500 by … actor Kevin Costner. He thanked for the fact that the USSR then did not raise rockets into the air …

Western journalists tried their best. In one magazine, the British added some color: supposedly, after everything had calmed down, the Russian planted half a liter of vodka right at the control panel and fell asleep for 28 hours.

- Nonsense! - Petrov is indignant. - Who would allow drinking in the workplace? And in general, alcohol was not brought to Serpukhov-15 even in honor of the holidays, it is not necessary for safety reasons.

Although he does not deny that after that nervous night he really could not get enough sleep for a long time: he was pulled up with checks.

In Russia, the "man of the world", as Western social activists called Petrov, was never awarded. All for the same reason - he violated the instructions. Like, arbitrariness should not be encouraged.

But in the West, Petrov was awarded several prizes. In New York, where the UN headquarters is located, in Dresden, in Italy …

- To this day, Western public organizations get me, - Stanislav Evgrafovich admits. - Here they called to the event: at the end of December the Germans are going to honor Adenauer, the first chancellor of the FRG, in Moscow. - They say, come and present the prize. But Adenauer was never a friend of our country. And I don't want to get into any political embarrassment. Yes, I have not accumulated wealth, I live modestly. But not offended. I'm a patriot. The state pays pensions on a regular basis - and thanks for that.

Call son

Petrov's son did not follow in his father's footsteps: Dmitry is an adjuster of technological equipment.

- Father lives modestly, but not poor, - says Dmitry. - Pension - 20 thousand rubles. Enough for life. I live with him. I help as much as possible.

After all, he received international awards. And what did you spend your money on?

- He helped my own sister. She has two children. She lived in the Krasnodar Territory, then came here with children - no work, no housing.

And now, in principle, he does not need financial assistance?

- Well, help is never superfluous. But he never flaunted and is not going to.