Vasily Arkhipov

Vasily Aleksandrovich Arkhipov (Russian: Василий Александрович Архипов; 30 January 1926 – 19 August 1998), also transliterated as Vasili Arkhipov, was a vice admiral in the Soviet Navy. He is best remembered for preventing nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

At the time of the crisis, Arkhipov was serving as chief of staff of a Soviet submarine flotilla and was aboard the submarine B-59 as executive officer. Launch authorization required the agreement of all three senior officers. When U.S. forces dropped depth charge simulators near the submarine, its captain and the political officer believed war had begun and prepared to launch a nuclear torpedo against United States Navy ships. Arkhipov refused, and his decision prevented the use of nuclear weapons.

In 2002, Thomas S. Blanton, director of the U.S. National Security Archive, said:

Arkhipov was "the man who saved the world."

Arkhipov became a rear admiral in 1975 and head of the Kirov Naval Academy. In 1981 he was promoted to vice admiral and retired in the mid-1980s.

After retirement, he lived in Zheleznodorozhny, Moscow Oblast. He died of kidney cancer on 19 August 1998. Some sources later linked the disease to radiation exposure during his service.