Kammala jumla mai zuwa: Duk da haka, a ranar 21 ga Oktoba, 1937, an kama Petlyakov tare da Tupolev da kuma dukkanin daraktan TsAGI a kan zargin da aka yi na lalata, leken asiri da kuma taimakawa Jam'iyyar Fascist ta Rasha. An kashe abokan aikinsa da yawa. A cikin 1939 an canza shi daga kurkuku zuwa "sharashka" na NKVD don masu tsara jirgin sama kusa da Moscow, inda aka riga aka tura yawancin tsoffin TsAGI zuwa aiki. An ba Petlyakov aikin tsara jirgin saman yaƙi mai tsayi, wanda ya yi nasara. Koyaya, ƙwarewar aiki a cikin
Yakin Soviet-Finnish na 1939-1940 ya nuna cewa wannan ba abin da Sojojin Sama na Soviet ke buƙata ba, kuma Lavrentiy Beria, shugaban NKVD da na tsarin "sharashka", ya ba da umarnin a sake tsara jirgin yaƙin a matsayin mai jefa bama-bamai, tare da alkawarin cewa za a saki Petlyakov da abokan aikinsa a kan nasarar kammala shi.