Dimitri Petrenko

"Dimitri Petrenko was one of the greatest men I ever known. He fought by my side from the siege of Stalingrad to the fall of Berlin. The wounds he sustained ensured our victory earned a 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."

- Reznov in "Project Nova"

Private Dimitri Petrenko (Russian: Дмитрий Петренко) was a Russian 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 Reznov, called "Project Nova."

World at War
Dimitri is first seen in the level "Vendetta" among 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 (he takes it as Reznov has injured his hand) 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. He and Reznov would not meet again for three years.

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 wreathing 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 Wehrmacht Soldier 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, and the game ends.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
In Reznov's flashback level Project Nova, we see that Dimitri survived the wounds he sustained at the Reichstag and continues to fight for the Red Army. Under Dragovich and Kravtchenko'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 Kravtchenko, who used him and his men as test subjects for the gas. Dimitri died a quick but painful death before Reznov's eyes. "Instead of dying for his country, he died for nothing. He should have died in Berlin."

- Viktor Reznov, recounting the events to Alex Mason in Vorkuta gulag

Trivia

 * 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 "Soap" MacTavish are somewhat similar as they both worked with their commanding officers, cheated death, and played an important role in their respective games. They also do something significant the game. (Petrenko raises the flag and Soap kills the main enemy in MW1 and MW2)
 * Throughout the Soviet campaign missions, it is seen that the Call of Duty statistic info on the bottom-left hand side of the screen does not display his full name, as it usually is shortened to "Pvt. Petrenko", but on the final Soviet mission, his full name is seen as well as his rank
 * When the player helps the Russians in Call of Duty 4, there is sometimes a soldier named Pvt.Dmitri Petrenko, but he can be killed anytime during the missions.
 * In Vendetta, Dimitri is wearing the same clothes as Reznov and the same hat as Reznov, a ushanka, but in the other missions, he has a random character model, unseen by the player unless the player uses a cheat.
 * Oddly, the Soviet government never promoted Dimitri even though he has a body count of over 200 Nazis, at least 7 tanks, a general, and a tour of duty of over 4 years. It is possible that he turned down advancement offers for an unknown reason, possibly so he can still be with Reznov (and maybe Chernov).
 * There are multiple soldiers in the Call of Duty series that have the same surname as Dimitri - 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" (Even having almost having the same first name, although the name is Dmitri). It is likely a coincidence but may be a reference on Treyarch's (and, in most cases, Infinity Ward's) part, or because Petrenko is a very common surname in Ukraine, and many Ukrainians moved to Russia over the years.
 * In the level "Downfall", in the cutscene for "Eviction", they show the surrendering German from the beginning being shot with a Tokarev TT-33. It is impossible for him to be shot by a pistol unless he is killed by the player. Thus meaning that the person is most likely Dimitri. It is also possible, however, that the cutscene depicts a scene from Ring of Steel, where a Wehrmacht soldier is finished off by a Russian with a TT-33.
 * It appears that Dimitri used to be in Daletski's squad, as when Reznov and him meet up with him he says,"Dimitri, we thought you were among the dead at the massacre of the square'".
 * Dimitri is harmed physically at least 10 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 punched in the face by the German soldier in the beginning of "Their Land, Their Blood".
 * 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. This also proves that Dimitri is a close friend to Reznov.
 * No matter how many times Dimitri is scripted to be injured by something whether it's getting shot in Downfall, or burning his hand in Vendetta, he seems to survive it all.
 * At the beginning of Their Land, Their Blood Dimitri does have a pistol, it is unknown why he didn't use it to shoot the Germans.
 * Like stated above, It is possible that the pistol was next to him, on the other side of his body, as the player does not see it, and he just picks it up when the Germans get killed, as the pistol would be a lot less deadly than a Mosin-Nagant, as he'd be shot before he could even pull off the round, and even if he did, he'd of course, get killed by one of the other Germans in the house.