Stanislav Petrov, who was portrayed in the 2014 documentary "The Man Who Saved the World" has died in Russia at 77.
Petrov is revered for his role in helping to avert nuclear war from breaking out on Sept. 26, 1983, an incident that was kept secret for over a decade until his superintendent, Colonel General Yury Votintsev, finally spoke out about the soviet soldier’s heroic act, according to RT.
Petrov was a duty officer tasked to monitor an early warning radar system in a bunker near Moscow on that fateful day, when the radar screen warned of an incoming missile from the U.S.
"All my subordinates were confused, so I started shouting orders at them to avoid panic. I knew my decision would have a lot of consequences," he told RT in 2010.
From that moment Petrov had 15 minutes to determine whether the threat was real and report it to his commanders who would then make the decision to retaliate.
However, the Petrov instead convinced his superiors that the alarm had been triggered by a system malfunction, a move that he would later be scolded for.
"My superiors were getting the blame and they did not want to recognize that anyone did any good, but instead chose to spread the blame," he told RT.
It was only when news emerged of the incident over 10 years later, that Petrov received the recognition he deserved.
According to The New York Times, he retired from the military in 1984 and went on to work as a senior engineer at an institute that created the early warning system.
He later retired from his position to care for his wife, who fell in and eventually died of cancer in 1997.
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