Dimitri Petrenko



Private Dimitri Petrenko (Russian: Дмитрий Петренко) was a Soviet soldier assigned to the 150th Rifle Division of the 3rd Shock Army during World War II. He is one of the main playable characters of Call of Duty: World at War, and makes an appearance in Call of Duty: Black Ops in a flashback mission with Viktor Reznov, "Project Nova", where he is killed.

Red Square Massacre
Dimitri is first seen in the level "Vendetta" among the many wounded and dead Red Army soldiers in a fountain at Red Square and goes unnoticed by playing dead. Momentarily, he comes across Sergeant Reznov who also survived the massacre. Petrenko seems to be a marksman of some degree, because he is then ordered to take Reznov's Scoped Mosin-Nagant and snipes German sentries under the cover of a bombing raid. After eliminating a German sniper, he and Reznov then meet with elements of the Red Army and provide sniper support for the attacking Russians and then move to assassinate Heinrich Amsel, the German general responsible for the massacre of Red Army soldiers.

Reznov congratulates Dimitri on his marksmanship, only to be attacked by a squad of German soldiers who storm the building they are in. Dimitri then jumps into the river after Reznov to escape the Wehrmacht soldiers.

Capture
Three years later in the German countryside, Dimitri is captured and taken into a house by three German soldiers. While the Germans were conversing and searching Dimitri's dead comrades, Dimitri tries to reach for a fallen comrade's Mosin-Nagant only to be kicked and punched in the face by a German soldier. Before they can execute him, however, a T-34 Tank blows a hole in a wall, injuring two of the three German soldiers.

Reznov guns down the last German soldier and orders Chernov, a new recruit, to execute the remaining German soldiers. When Chernov refuses since they were already bleeding to death and instead, takes this as a chance to write about the war in his journal, Petrenko has the option of executing his dying captors himself as he and Reznov have no pity for Wehrmacht soldiers after the atrocities they witnessed in Stalingrad. After executing or leaving the wounded Germans to die Petrenko joins Reznov for the first time in three years in the final push to Berlin.

Push into Berlin
Upon their reunion, Reznov speaks a lot of Dimitri and often tells the other soldiers to follow him as an example, especially to Chernov, who seems to be shocked by the vengeful violence of his comrades against Wehrmacht soldiers. After blowing up German Panzer Tanks, King Tigers and German forces guarding the last defensive line protecting Berlin in a T-34, Petrenko and Reznov join numerous Russian forces in clearing Berlin. During a skirmish in a Berlin subway, however, the tunnel Petrenko, Reznov and Chernov are in is flooded by water, although the three miraculously survive.

The Reichstag
After recovering, Dimitri participates in storming the Reichstag, the seat of the German Parliament and final Nazi stronghold. However at the entrance of the Reichstag, Chernov is incinerated by a flamethrower and falls to the ground coughing and writhing in pain, Reznov then takes pity on him and takes his diary and reads it, Chernov's death forces another soldier to carry the flag, although he is killed as well during the final stages of the battle, forcing Dimitri to plant the Soviet flag.

However, when trying to raise the Soviet flag, a lone remaining Waffen SS Trooper severely wounds Petrenko by shooting a near-fatal shot at him with a P-38. As the lone German ran out of ammo, Reznov charges forward with a machete and repeatedly stabs and slashes the German as he dies and then throws his body from the Reichstag. Reznov then cuts down the flag and tells Dimitri the honor is his. Dimitri then raises the Soviet flag over the Reichstag as lots of cries are heard from the Russians.

Post-War and Operation Olympus
After being shot, doctors feared his death. Two months after, however, Dimitri still managed to fully recover from his wounds. During July and August, Petrenko was assigned to the Soviet Occupation Forces in Berlin. In Reznov's flashback level Project Nova, some time in October, Reznov and Petrenko were both assigned to "Unit 45," a Soviet special projects team under the command of General Nikita Dragovich.

Under Dragovich's and Kravchenko's orders, Dimitri and Reznov were dispatched to capture the Nazi scientist Steiner and secure a shipment of Nova-6, an extremely toxic nerve gas. After Steiner was caught, he was brought back to Dragovich and Kravchenko to give them the location of the Nova-6.

Death
While they were successful to this end, Dragovich and Kravchenko betrayed Dimitri, and used him and his men as test subjects for the gas. Dimitri died a slow and painful death from the Nova-6 before Reznov's eyes on October 29, 1945, at the age of 22. Upon seeing this, Reznov vowed to kill Dragovich, Kravchenko and Steiner in order to avenge Dimitri, leading him to sabotage the brainwashing of Alex Mason, in order to kill these three men.