having been in combat since june 1941, petrov fought on the southern, voronezh and 1st ukrainian fronts. as deputy commander of the 1850th anti-tank artillery regiment he participated in the battles for the left-bank ukraine and the dniper. he saw heavy combat in the crossing of the sula river on 14 september 1943, during which his unit faced a constant barrage of artillery fire and bombing while trying to launch three ferries but faced opposition were forced to confront thirteen tanks. after destroying seven german tanks and forcing them to expend their ammunition they were able to continue the advance while then enemy retreated and deployed machine gunners. when german gunners encircled a battery of his regiment, he and other soviet soldiers participated in a two-hour-long battle against encircling forces. in the end, the battery was able to escape the encirclement and an estimated 90 german soldiers were killed.