His father, a veteran invalid of the Russian Civil War, died in 1933 and his brother, Seraphim, was reported as missing in action at the front near Moscow in March 1942.

He was promoted to lieutenant, commanding a mortar battery and fought during the liberation of Belarus and with the Baltic Front.

After the war, Sorokin served as a political officer and studied at the Lenin Military-Political Academy between 1948 and 1952.

After graduating Sorokin was posted to the Navy and served as a political officer on the destroyers Redkiy and Vdumchevy of the Soviet Pacific Fleet.

In retirement he lived in Moscow and was president of the International Union of CIS War Veterans (Pensioners) Associations.