[4] From 1935 to September 13, 1937, he served as the Second Secretary of the Far Eastern Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

It was around this time that Ptukha became a member of the NKVD troika and actively participated in Stalinist repressions and the Great Purge.

He was then called to participate in the October plenary session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in Moscow.

Upon arrival on October 11, 1937, he was arrested and his membership within the Central Committee was revoked due to him being an "exposed enemy of the people".

On April 25, 1938, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union formally approved the sentence and Ptukha was executed by firing squad at the Kommunarka shooting ground.