Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov (Russian: Станислав Евграфович Петров) (born c. 1939) is a retired Soviet Air Defence Forces lieutenant colonel who deviated from standard Soviet doctrine by correctly identifying a missile attack warning as a false alarm on September 26, 1983.[1] This decision most likely resulted in preventing an accidental retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its Western Allies. Investigation of the satellite warning system later confirmed that the system had malfunctioned.

Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov (Russian: Василий Александрович Архипов) (1926–1999) was a Soviet naval officer. During the Cuban Missile Crisis he prevented the launch of a nuclear torpedo and therefore a possible nuclear war.