Pyotr Mikhailovich Petrov

Petrov was born on 16 January 1910 in Petrozavodsk to a working-class family. He graduated from seven classes at Railway School No. 9 and worked as a mechanic at the rail depot of Petrozavodsk station. He became a Komsomol member. Petrov was drafted into the Red Army on a Komsomol direction in 1929. He entered the Leningrad Air Force Flight-Technical School, after which he served as a mechanic in the Moscow Military District Air Force. In 1932, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1936, he graduated from the Borisoglebsk Military Aviation School and became a squadron commander.[2]

Petrov became commander of the 3rd Squadron of the 68th Fighter Aviation Regiment in the Winter War.[2] He made several victory claims during the war. On 17 February 1940, on Lake Muola-Jarvi, pilot N. Kosichkin was shot down and crash landed on the ice. Petrov landed and strapped Kosichkin to the skis of his I-15bis under Finnish fire. When Petrov landed at his base, there were about 100 holes in the fuselage of his plane. On 7 April 1940, Petrov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin,[1][3] becoming the first person born in Karelia to receive the distinction.[2]

Petrov became commander of the Polikarpov I-16-equipped 254th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the 36th Aviation Division, part of the Air Force of the Southwestern Front. He led the regiment after the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Due to a lack of airplanes, the pilots of the regiment made seven to eight sorties a day. During an air battle over Kiev, Petrov was attacked by six Messerschmitt Bf 109s and was wounded in the shoulder. In the engagement, he was able to shoot down one of them. By November 1941, Petrov had claimed around ten personal and shared victories. On 23 November 1941, Petrov was shot down and killed by friendly antiaircraft fire[1] near Urazovo. He was buried in the village. Petrov was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 29 December 1941.[2][4]

A street in Petrozavodsk was named for Petrov. On 8 May 2009 a plaque was placed in the Petrozavodsk station rail depot.[2]

Petrov married Galina Semyonovna and had a son, Anatoly, who later became a Soviet Air Force lieutenant colonel.[5]