Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down on September 1, 1983.
You imply that at that time Mikhail Gorbachev was the Soviet Premier, a title he never held, by the way. But Gorbachev was not made General Secretary until March of 1985 so he could not have been the one who would, "...press the button."
Yuri Andropov was General Secretary. But he had been in the hospital since February of that year and, in fact, spent the rest of his life there so he was not spending any nights in a bunker, sleepless or otherwise.
The Soviets were paranoid and that was standard operating procedure for them but not even Ronald Reagan, who chronically feared the Soviet boogeyman which he perceived to be hiding in every shadow, would launch a nuclear missile strike over a downed airliner.
Continued below...
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EdwardHaskell (122)
5 months ago
Continued...
It seems to me that you are confusing this non-event with the very real nuclear false alarm incident which occured a few weeks later.
From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident):
On 26 September 1983, during the Cold War, the Soviet nuclear early warning system Oko reported the launch of one intercontinental ballistic missile with four more missiles behind it, from the United States. These missile attack warnings were suspected to be false alarms by Stanislav Petrov, an engineer of the Soviet Air Defence Forces on duty at the command center of the early-warning system. He decided to wait for corroborating evidence—of which none arrived—rather than immediately relaying the warning up the chain of command. This decision is seen as having prevented a retaliatory nuclear strike against the United States and its NATO allies, which would likely have resulted in a full-scale nuclear war. Investigation of the satellite warning system later determined that the system had indeed malfunctioned.
It was a malfunction in the Soviet system and it might have led to a nuclear exchange but Lieutenant Colonel Petrov's decision to wait prevented this.
Thus, it was a Soviet Air Defense Forces officer that kept a nuclear war from happening, not the U.S.
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Redsfan001 (6003)
5 months ago
What you dug up on wiki is actually a cover story released by Russian revisionist historians. The Soviets went on high alert soon after the downing of 007 and the Russian revisionist historians had to give the world a plausible reason, and a Russian hero that was not Gorbachev.
Yuri Andropov was General Secretary at the time but was too ill and in no condition to make decisions, let alone to be taken to a secure bunker. The young Gorbachev was next in line and had the authority to launch a full scale first strike. He was taken to a bunker with the Soviet Generals urging to strike first, believing a full scale assault was coming
Since campfire story makes the Soviet apparatus look bad and Gorbachev look good, it stands to reason that a alternative story exists.
If people can accept that the downing the flight 007 and the high alert just three weeks later was simply a coincidence....well...
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EdwardHaskell (122)
5 months ago
I didn't have to dig. This is well known history.
Since there was no definite order of succession in the Soviet Union it cannot be said that Gorbachev was, "next in line." If Gorbachev was next why was Konstantin Chernenko was made General Secretary when Andropov died?
If you can't get that right what else are you wrong about?
Your original post is fiction. You even call it a story in your subject line. You cannot be taken seriously.
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Redsfan001 (6003)
5 months ago
** A history told by the Russians.**
You hit the nail on the head. No clear order of succession, but the generals couldn't order a first strike alone, they needed a political officer. Gorbachev was Andropovs protege, having Gorbachev in a bunker with the generals urging him to launch a first strike doesn't seemed far fechted to me.
"Why couldn't it just be a coincidence?"
"Because these people don't BELIEVE in coincidence."
Charley Varrick (73)
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