1918 – 19 November 1943

Dmitriy Petrukhin was born in 1918 and graduated from the flight school in Serpukhovskaya in 1940.

When Germany attacked the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, mladshiy leytenant Petrukhin served in 5 IAP-KBF.

He left 5 IAP-KBF in September 1941, when he was posted to 71 IAP-KBF. In this unit, mladshiy leytenant Petrukhin served in the 3rd eskadrilya. This unit was at the time equipped with both I-15bis and I-153s.

On 24 November 1941, he was decorated with the Order of the Red Banner.

At noon on 14 February, four I-16s and four I-15bis carried out a reconnaissance mission in the area Voronovo-Mga-Tosno-Maluksa. The flight of four I-15bis from the 3rd eskadrilya led by mladshiy leytenant Petrukhin, was attacked by two Bf 109s near the village of Turyshkino.
After the second attack, one I-15bis went into a spin and hit the ground. The pilot was killed. The three remaining Soviet fighters managed to shot down one of the Bf 109s, which crashed near Lake Dologoye at Lodva. This victory was shared between mladshiy leytenant Petrukhin, mladshiy leytenant Markov and serzhant Savosin.
The German fighter was flown by the Knight Cross-holder Hauptmann Franz Eckerle, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 54 (Bf 109 F-2 WNr 9728 <<+), who shot down the I-15bis (his 59th victory) before being shot down himself (he claimed two I-153s in this combat at 14:25). German front-line soldiers reported seeing the pilot of a Bf 109 bailing out over Soviet territory. According to accounts by Soviet soldiers who were captured in this area shortly thereafter, furious Soviet soldiers brought Eckerle into a forest, where they lynched him. Eckerle was posthumously decorated with the Oak Leaves.

In March 1942, he was posted from 71 IAP-KBF to 11 IAP-KBF.

On 21 July 1942, he was decorated with a second Order of the Red Banner.

He remained in 11 IAP-KBF until May 1943, when he was posted to 12 OIAE-KBF. With this unit, he flew Yak-7Bs.

On 1 November, 12 OIAE-KBF became 12 IAP-KBF.

He was decorated with a third Order of the Red Banner on 3 November 1943.

On 19 November 1943, kapitan Petrukhin was shot down and killed by AA fire.

At the time of his death, Petrukhin was credited with 3 shared biplane victories and a total of 2.
These had been claimed during 690 combat missions (as of 15 October 1943).

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1942
	14/02/42	noon	1/3	Bf 109 (a)	Shared destroyed	I-15bis		near Turyshkino	3./71 IAP-KBF
	28/03/42		1/?	Ju 88	Shared destroyed	I-15bis			11 IAP-KBF
	04/04/42		1/?	’He 113’	Shared destroyed	I-15bis			11 IAP-KBF
	1943
1	07/09/43		1	Fiat	Destroyed	Yak-7B			12 OIAE-KBF
2	28/09/43		1	Ju 88	Destroyed	Yak-7B			12 OIAE-KBF

Biplane victories: 3 shared destroyed.
TOTAL: 2 and 3 shared destroyed.
(a) Hauptmann Franz Eckerle, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 54, shot down and killed.

Sources:
All aces of Stalin 1936-1953 – Mikhail Bykov, 2014
Black Cross/Red Star Volume II - Christer Bergström and Andrey Mikhailov, 2001 Pacifica Military History, ISBN 0-935553-51-7
Luftwaffe Claims Lists - Tony Wood
Soviet Aces 1936-1953
Soviet Fighter Pilots 1936-1953 - Mikhail Bykov