[4] With the start of Operation Barbarossa (part of World War II) in June 1941, he was detained by Soviet authorities and transported out of Lviv.

[4] He was the author of several books, including the historical novellas Makhnivska Popivna (Махнівська попівна), In ancient woods of Brazil (В пралісах Бразилії), memoirs Ivan Franko from up close (Іван Франко зблизька), a movie script of Boryslav Laughs (Борислав сміється) and others.

Some sources claim that he died on 28 June 1941 during his attempt to escape at the Proshov railway station near Ternopil while being transported by train.

[1] In the city of Starokonstantyniv, at the entrance to the 7th Aviation Brigade on Myr Street, a portrait of Petro Franko, whose name the military unit bears, was painted on a concrete slab.

[8][9] On August 24, 2020, on the Independence Day of Ukraine, a mural dedicated to Petro Franko was unveiled in Kyiv's Solomianskyi district, on the facade of a building at 7 Aviakonstruktora Antonova Street.