[1] He was drafted into the Red Army in 1942 and in October 1943 graduated from accelerated courses at the 2nd Kiev Self-Propelled Artillery School as a junior lieutenant.

He was promoted to lieutenant around this time, and from late June, he fought in Operation Bagration, the Soviet strategic offensive that recaptured Belarus and eastern Poland.

According to a report made by his regimental commander, Snetkov helped coordinate the entry of self-propelled guns into battle and often personally visited the front lines under heavy fire to pass on orders between 13 and 21 January.

Despite heavy German mortar fire, Snetkov was able to pass on orders to the battery, allowing it to fulfil its mission.

[8] After the end of the war in Europe, the 395th Guards Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment was transferred to the Far East for the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.

[10] Between 1946 and 1950, Snetkov was assistant chief of staff for operations of a regiment, and then entered the Military Academy of the Armored Forces, graduating in 1953.

[9] In November 1987, Snetkov was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the GSFG, which became the Western Group of Forces (WGF) in June 1989 when it was shifted to a defensive role.

[11] During upheavals in East Germany during October and November, the WGF's troops did not intervene in the Leipzig Monday demonstrations and the Fall of the Berlin Wall as a result of orders given to Snetkov by the Soviet ambassador in East Germany, Vyacheslav Kochemasov, which were confirmed by the Soviet government.

[12] After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the easing of Cold War tensions, discipline in the WGF began to break down.

[13] In response to German citizens' complaints, he also halted all training on weekends and holidays, and ended low-level flying over populated places.

[16][17] However, according to a contemporary Izvestia report, he was fired along with deputies after the desertions of a regimental commander and a supply unit leader on 29 November, who took two missiles, three tank shells and other armaments with them.