Taken From: The Voice of Russia
Date Published: February 14th, 2013
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| Now retired - Soviet Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov. |
Summary: The Dresden Peace Prize ceremony will take place on the 17th of February. This year it will be given too, now retired, Soviet Lieutenant-Colonel Stanislav Petrov. 30 years ago, on the 26th September 1983, Soviet officer, Petrov was on duty. His screens showed data, that 5 missiles with nuclear warheads were headed towards Russia, from the United States. His orders were to retaliate against the United States, by firing missiles back. However the officer decided not to, concluding it was a false alarm. It was proved later that, it was a false alarm. It was a technical failure.
"We believe that the heroic deed of Stanislav Petrov will go down in history as one of the most significant events of the past few decades that contributed to the preservation of peace. Our prize is given for averting a conflict, not for its settlement, and Mr. Petrov averted a third world war – hence he is worthy of this award."
The story was kept secret for a long time, only being declassified (ceased to be top secret) in 1998. The awarding ceremony will be held on the 17th, in the Dresden Opera Theater. By tradition the giver of the award has to be linked with Dresden (A city in Germany). In this case it will be a 25 year old resident of Dresden. Only two people have been awarded the Dresden Peace Prize, Mikhail Gorbachev, for his contribution to nuclear disarmament and Stanislav Petrov. The second person to be awarded.
Opinion: I think this man is a hero, and very smart for preventing something that could have changed the way we live today. This man prevented an all out nuclear war. If Russia fired nukes at the United States, they would have fired back, creating national chaos and a huge disaster. This man was able to recognize a technical error, preventing - what could have been - The biggest disaster in history. I think this man truely deserves the peace award.
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