Pyotr Mikhailovich Petrov

Pyotr Mikhailovich Petrov (; 16 January 1910 23 November 1941) was a Soviet Air Force major, flying ace, and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Petrov fought in the Winter War and was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for landing his Polikarpov I-15bis on a frozen lake under fire to rescue a downed pilot. During the Winter War he claimed several victories. Petrov became commander of the 254th Fighter Aviation Regiment and led it during the first months after the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Petrov claimed about ten German aircraft until he was killed on 23 November 1941 when his Polikarpov I-16 was shot down by friendly fire.

Early life and Interwar 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. becoming the first person born in Karelia to receive the distinction.

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