Yury Votintsev
Encyclopedia
General Yuriy Vsyevolodich Votintsev (Russ. Юрий Всеволодович Вотинцев) is a retired commander of the Soviet Air Defense's Missile Defense Units. He is best known for the revelation in his memoirs in 1998 of the 1983 incident involving Stanislav Petrov
in which the latter probably prevented an inadvertent nuclear war between the United States
and the former Soviet Union
.
He was born October 23, 1919 in Tashkent
, Uzbekistan
, to Vsyevolod Dimitrievich and Anastasia Alexandrovna (Shcheglova) Votintsev, his father reportedly killed by English and/or American agents. He married Anna Makarovna (Rysakova) Votintsev (b. 1919), with a son, Vsyevolod Yurievich Votintsev (b. 1956), who worked as a military journalist, and a daughter, Marina Yuryevna Votintseva (b. 1959), a military foreign linguist.
Votintsev was a promoted and repeatedly decorated artillery officer throughout World War II
. Toward 1953 he was lending his experience to North Korean and Chinese forces during the Korean War
. He went on to serve in antiaircraft and space defense, becoming an artillery Major General in 1958 and transferring to Turkmenistan, working with southern border defense to suppress American U-2
surveillance flights. He became a Lietenant General in 1963 and a Turkmen delegate to the 22nd and 23rd CPSU Party Congresses
. He headed interdepartmental technical commissions and was made a Hero of Soviet Labor by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, as well as given an Order of Lenin
and Hammer and Sickle gold medal at the hand of Dimitri Ustinov. After retirement he was the veteran's organization chair for the capital's Oktyabrskiy region and was chosen as a delegate to the 1990 28th Congress of the CPSU. He holds two Orders of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner, an Order of Aleksandr Nevskiy, and two first-degree Orders of the Patriotic War (World War II), Red Star Orders, and Emblem of Honor (Znak Pochyota) medals.
Votintsev resides in Moscow.
Stanislav Petrov
On September 26, 1983 the Nuclear Early Warning System of the Soviet Union twice reported the launch of American Minuteman ICBMs from bases in the United States. These missile attack warnings were correctly identified as a false alarm by Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov, an officer of the Soviet Air...
in which the latter probably prevented an inadvertent nuclear war between the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
He was born October 23, 1919 in Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, to Vsyevolod Dimitrievich and Anastasia Alexandrovna (Shcheglova) Votintsev, his father reportedly killed by English and/or American agents. He married Anna Makarovna (Rysakova) Votintsev (b. 1919), with a son, Vsyevolod Yurievich Votintsev (b. 1956), who worked as a military journalist, and a daughter, Marina Yuryevna Votintseva (b. 1959), a military foreign linguist.
Votintsev was a promoted and repeatedly decorated artillery officer throughout World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Toward 1953 he was lending his experience to North Korean and Chinese forces during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. He went on to serve in antiaircraft and space defense, becoming an artillery Major General in 1958 and transferring to Turkmenistan, working with southern border defense to suppress American U-2
Lockheed U-2
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency . It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather intelligence gathering...
surveillance flights. He became a Lietenant General in 1963 and a Turkmen delegate to the 22nd and 23rd CPSU Party Congresses
Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the gathering of the delegates of the Communist Party and its predecessors. According the party statute, it was the supreme ruling body of the entire Communist Party....
. He headed interdepartmental technical commissions and was made a Hero of Soviet Labor by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, as well as given an Order of Lenin
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
and Hammer and Sickle gold medal at the hand of Dimitri Ustinov. After retirement he was the veteran's organization chair for the capital's Oktyabrskiy region and was chosen as a delegate to the 1990 28th Congress of the CPSU. He holds two Orders of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner, an Order of Aleksandr Nevskiy, and two first-degree Orders of the Patriotic War (World War II), Red Star Orders, and Emblem of Honor (Znak Pochyota) medals.
Votintsev resides in Moscow.