The Soviet officer who stopped World War III (2024)

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The Soviet officer who stopped World War III? ›

In 1983, Stanislav Petrov, a lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Union's Air Defense Forces, trusted his gut and averted a global nuclear catastrophe.

Vasily Aleksandrovich Arkhipov (Russian: Василий Александрович Архипов, IPA: [vɐˈsʲilʲɪj ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ arˈxʲipəf], 30 January 1926 – 19 August 1998) was a Soviet Naval officer who is known for preventing a Soviet nuclear torpedo launch during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Stanislav Petrov, a little-known Russian whose decision averted a potential nuclear war, died in May at 77, a family friend disclosed in mid-September. As a lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Air Defense Forces, Petrov was on duty Sept.

Fifty-nine years ago, a senior Russian submarine officer, Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov, refused to fire a nuclear torpedo at an American aircraft carrier and likely prevented a third world war and nuclear destruction.

As of January 2023, the current DEFCON level is estimated to be at 3 due to the Russian conflict, according to OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) on the website DefconLevel.com.

On 22 June 1941, Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, an invasion of the Soviet Union with the largest invasion force in history, leading to some of the largest battles and most horrific atrocities.

At a time when the probability of nuclear war is as nearly as high as it was during the Cuban Missile Crisis, it is crucial that we recall the story of Vasili Arkhipov, a Soviet submarine officer who prevented a Soviet nuclear strike against U.S. surface warships during that very crisis in 1962.

Although talks of women registering with Selective Service have circulated, women remain excluded from any potential drafts after Congress dropped a provision in Dec. 2021. Today, only men ages 18-25 who are U.S. citizens or are immigrants would be required to sign up.

The Soviet Union's land radar was incapable of detecting missiles beyond the horizon. It was subsequently determined that the false alarms were caused by a rare alignment of sunlight on high-altitude clouds and the satellites' Molniya orbits, an error later corrected by cross-referencing a geostationary satellite.

Who was the most famous Soviet general? ›

Vladimir Lenin was voted the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union (Sovnarkom) on 30 December 1922 by the Congress of Soviets.

So yes, it is possible, but it's not going to happen. The people of every country, or at least a vast majority of people from every country, would have to refuse to fight. That is the only guaranteed way to stop a war.

Shortly before 9 a.m. on November 9, 1979, the computers at North American Aerospace Defense Command's Cheyenne Mountain site, the Pentagon's National Military Command Center, and the Alternate National Military Command Center in Fort Ritchie, Maryland, all showed what the United States feared most—a massive Soviet ...

Truman announced Japan's surrender and the end of World War II. The news spread quickly and celebrations erupted across the United States. On September 2, 1945, formal surrender documents were signed aboard the USS Missouri, designating the day as the official Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day).

However, Russia had secured French support and feared that a failure to defend Serbia would damage its credibility, constituting a significant political setback in its Balkan ambitions. Tsar Nicholas II ordered the mobilization of Russian forces on July 30, 1914, to deter Austria-Hungary from invading Serbia.

The purpose of the operation was to collect intelligence on potential contingency plans of the Reagan administration to launch a nuclear first strike against the Soviet Union. The program was initiated in May 1981 by Yuri Andropov, then chairman of the KGB.

In March 1918, the new Russian government, now under Lenin's leadership, signed a peace treaty with Germany at Brest-Litovsk in what is now Belarus. Lenin had no say in the terms of that treaty; the Germans imposed it by threatening to resume their attacks on Russia if the agreement was not signed immediately.

After assassination of the Austrian heir to the throne in June 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on the Russia's ally Serbia, which made Russia enter WW1 in support of Serbia. During the war, Russia had some success against Austria-Hungary, but suffered major defeats by Germany.