In 1991, (according to other sources - since 1989) he became the chief editor of the Kostroma newspaper "Young Leninist", which from 14 December 1991 became known as "Youth Line".

In August 2004, he became the head of the Baltic Media Group holding, created by Oleg Rudnov, but left this post in December.

[5][6] On 25 April, President Dmitry Medvedev submitted Sitnikov's candidacy to the Kostroma Oblast Duma to approve him for the post of governor of the Kostroma Oblast, and on 28 April, Sitnikov was unanimously approved as the governor, taking office the same day.

[7][8][9] On 15 May 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted the early resignation of Sitnikov, and appointed him acting head of the region.

[13][14] He had been the head of the commission of the working group of the State Council on the development of effective mechanisms for a modern system of long-term care for the elderly.

[22] At the end of 2009, Sitnikov's statement caused a wide resonance, in which he blamed the Internet media for readers' comments, stating: "“If the editors do not want complications with the supervisory authorities, then they should moderate their forum”.

In June 2010, Sitnikov, by his order, approved the procedure for moderating illegal comments on Internet media sites.

Ten years later, Sitnikov's decision on responsibility for the abuse of freedom of mass media on the Internet has actually become the norm of professional ethics.