Dimitri Petrenko

"Dimitri Petrenko was one of the bravest men I had ever known. He fought by my side from the siege of Stalingrad to the fall of Berlin. The wounds he sustained ensuring our victory should have earned him a hero's welcome to Russia. But Stalin had little need for heroes. Dimitri Petrenko was a hero, he deserved a hero's death. Instead of giving his life for the glory of the Motherland, he died for nothing. Like an animal... He should have died in Berlin."

- Viktor Reznov recalling the events of "Project Nova" to Alex Mason

Private Dimitri Petrenko was a Russian soldier, who was 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 Reznov, called "Project Nova."

Petrenko is voiced by Boris Kievsky.

Call of Duty: World at War
Dimitri is first seen in the level "Vendetta" among the many wounded and dead Red Army soldiers and is saved from German soldiers executing his remaining comrades 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 then takes Reznov's Scoped Mosin-Nagant (as Reznov has injured his hand in World at War) 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 assassinate Heinrich Amsel, a 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.

Three years later in the German countryside, Dimitri is captured and taken into a house by 3 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 when he gets caught. Before they can execute him, however, a T-34 Tank blows a hole in a wall, injuring 2 of the 3 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, 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. Upon their reunion, Reznov speaks highly 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.

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, forcing 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. Dimitri then raises the Soviet flag over the Reichstag. When remembering back to the day of Dimitri's death, Reznov states that the SS trooper should have killed him, for then at least he would have died a hero's death.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
After being shot, doctors feared his death. Two months after, however, Dimitri still managed to make a full recovery 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. While they were successful to this end, Dimitri was betrayed by Dragovich and Kravchenko, who used him and his men as test subjects for the gas. Dimitri died a quick but painful death 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.

Trivia

 * Petrenko is one of the few major playable characters whose face and voice are revealed. Others include Viktor Reznov, Soap MacTavish, John Price, Alex Mason and Jason Hudson.
 * If Dimitri's birth date is actually August 1, 1923, he is the youngest playable character in the series at age 18 in "Vendetta."
 * In the Wii version of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Dimitri's death is less graphic.
 * In the levels "Heart of the Reich" and Downfall" Dimitri is in the 150th Rifle Division specifically. Even though the division is in the 3rd Shock Army, it is only displayed in these two levels. He might have been stuck together with another Shock Army and then the 150th Division was built.
 * Both Dimitri Petrenko and John MacTavish are somewhat similar: both are revealed playable characters, worked with their commanding officers, cheated death multiple times, were betrayed by their affiliations' generals (Soap with TF141's Shepherd and Petrenko with the Red Army's Dragovich), and play an important role in their respective games. They also do something significant in the game: Petrenko raises the flag and Soap kills his series' main antagonists. They are both skilled marksmen and have both killed a general opposing their faction. They are both badly injured at the end of their respective games and have both failed to save their friends. Both were silent in their first game but revealed in their sequel, incidentally a cold weather environment in both instances. The only major differences were the wars fought in and that Soap survived the second game he appeared in while Dimitri was killed. Soap was also playable in his second game while Dimitri was not. Incidentally, Reznov also bears similarities with John Price. Both also are injured and then rescued by a Russian, which eventually tells them: "You are going to be alright, my friend."
 * Oddly, Dmitri is never promoted even though he has a body count of many Germans, seven tanks, a general, four FlaK 88s, and a four-year tour of duty.
 * There are multiple soldiers in the Call of Duty series that have the surname "Petrenko" - Yuri Petrenko of Call of Duty: United Offensive, Mikhail Petrenko of Call of Duty and several Russian loyalists in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare levels "Blackout," "Safehouse," "The Sins of the Father," and "Game Over."
 * Dimitri is harmed physically at least 11 times; he almost drowned twice, he is injured at the beginning of Vendetta, he is shot in Downfall, a flaming column hits him in Vendetta, he burns himself, he is hit by an explosion after shooting Amsel, Reznov drags him up a flight of stairs, the falling column in Heart of the Reich knocks him over (if the player is close enough), and he also gets kicked in the face by the German soldier in the beginning of "Their Land, Their Blood", and attacked by friendly teammates at the end of Project Nova.
 * In the Russian version of the game, Reznov sometimes referrers to him as 'Dima' (Russian: Дима) and 'Dimka' (Russian: Димка), short ways of saying Dimitri. These nicknames show that Dimitri is a close friend to Reznov.
 * Reznov comments to Mason that "The wounds Petrenko sustained in battle should have earned him a hero's welcome". It is never stated if Dimitri even received a promotion. However, it is confirmed that at least Reznov receives a promotion to an officer rank, as he is referred to as "Captain Reznov" at least once.
 * He is voiced by the same voice actor as Major Petrov, commanding officer of the Russian air-force base located in Kazakhstan, and the announcer for the faction Spetsnaz in Modern Warfare 2.
 * Much like Private First Class Joseph Allen from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Dimitri Petrenko dies at the age of 22. Coincidentally, both die from a betrayal of their superior.
 * Petrenko is the sixth playable character that has died in Call of Duty series. The others are Yasir al-Fulani, Paul Jackson, Joseph Allen, Gary "Roach" Sanderson, and Sat1. Unlike the other five, Dimitri dies while he is not playable.
 * Dimitri is only one year younger than Kravchenko, despite the latter's older appearance higher rank.
 * Dimitri's exploits in Call of Duty: World at War bear a striking resemblance to those of Mikhail Minin, the first Soviet troop into the Reichstag and the one to first place a Soviet flag on the building.
 * In Black Ops, the multiplayer skin for the Arctic Spetsnaz soldier with the Ghost perk has a similar face to Dimitri.