[2] Between 1896 and 1899 he served on the battleships Chesma and Georgii Pobedonosets, the cruiser Pamiat Merkuria, the minesweeper Ingul and the training ship Berezan [ru].

In September 1903 he was appointed senior mine officer of the cruiser Askold, and he served aboard her during the Russo-Japanese War and the Siege of Port Arthur.

Promoted to senior lieutenant in June 1907, he served as mine officer of the destroyer Lyogkii [ru] from September 1907.

In January 1908 he was seconded to the Naval Technical Committee [ru] for training, and from June 1908 commanded the torpedo boat Prozorlivy.

In September 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War, Kitkin was promoted to Captain 1st rank for courageously resisting the enemy.

In 1943 and 1944, Kitkin served as a specialist on naval mines for the Military Council of the Baltic Fleet, and from October 1944, was senior engineer-designer of the technical department of the NIMTI Navy.

In 1946, for his inventions in the field of mine warfare, the VAK approved the award of the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences.

1906, 1908, 1912, a cutter trawl (1913), a cartridge with two drums for the trawler boat (1920), a mine protector and a special purpose subversive cartridge (1928), a device known as a snake trawl (1929) a milestone (1929), special sweeping units for convoys (1936), and a device for the self-explosion of mines (1942).