Vasili Arkhipov

Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov (, 30 January 1926 – 19 August 1998) was a Soviet Navy officer. He is known for casting the single vote that prevented a Soviet nuclear strike (and, presumably, all-out nuclear war) during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Such an attack likely would have caused a major global thermonuclear response.

Noam Chomsky said Arkhipov saved the world for his decision.Noam Chomsky, in his book Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance cited we were "one word away from nuclear war" and "a devastating response would be a near certainty", and also noted that President Dwight Eisenhower stated "a major war would destroy the northern hemisphere"(Chomsky, pp. 74) He was a flotilla commander and second-in-command of the diesel powered submarine . 

Arkhipov refused to authorize the captain's use of nuclear torpedoes against the United States Navy, a decision requiring the agreement of all three senior officers aboard. In 2002 Thomas Blanton, who was then director of the US National Security Archive, said that Arkhipov "saved the world".

Arkhipov died of kidney cancer on 19 August 1998 in Zheleznodorozhny, Moscow Oblast at the age of 72.

References

Category:1926 births
Category:1998 deaths
Category:Cancer deaths in Russia
Category:Deaths from kidney cancer
Category:Soviet military personnel of World War II