sentences:  On March 24, 2005 Nikita Petrov was awarded Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland for his efforts in uncovering truth about repressions against Polish people during the war.In 2008 Petrov earned Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam (Instituut voor Cultuur en Geschiedenis, Faculty of Humanities) with the thesis "Сталин и органы НКВД-МГБ в советизации стран Центральной и Восточной Европы.1945–1953 гг."