What lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defence Forces correctly identified a false alarm on 26 September 1983
Stanislav Petrov Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov (Russian: Станисла́в Евгра́фович Петро́в ; 7 September 1939 – 19 May 2017) was a lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defence Forces who became known as "the man who single-handedly saved the world from nuclear war" for his role in the 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident.
Vasily Reshetnikov Vasily Vasiliyevich Reshetnikov (Russian: Василий Васильевич Решетников ) (born December 23, 1919) was a Soviet pilot during World War II. Reshetnikov flew 307 missions mainly as a pilot for a long-range bomber and in the summer of 1943, received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After World War II concluded he was named commander of Air Division, Air Corps. Reshetnikov was subsequently promoted to Colonel General and took command of Long-range Air Forces from 1969 to 1980 and was made Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force of the Soviet Union from 1980 to 1986.