1995 Near‑Nuclear Crisis Avoided After Russian Missile Misidentification In 1995 a Russian missile launch was mistakenly identified as a nuclear weapon. A Norwegian civilian rocket entered the trajectory that could have been used by U.S. nuclear submarines aimed at Moscow. Russian forces believed President Boris Yeltsin had received a nuclear threat and had to decide whether to retaliate. The mistake was discovered before any action, preventing a nuclear exchange.
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