After graduating from the Leningrad Higher Military-Political School of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs in 1971, he was sent to Yerevan for further service.

In 1991, Shirin Mirzayev arrived to serve in Agdam, at that time one of the most "hot spots" in Azerbaijan.

In early June 1992, the Azerbaijani command developed a plan for a large-scale offensive, during which the troops were to deliver a simultaneous strike against the enemy from three sides.

Despite the lack of military equipment, weapons and ammunition, the battalion commander Mirzaev organized the successful advance of his unit along the Khachynchay River, occupying the villages of Kazanchi, Syrkhavend, Farukh, Pirjamal, Balligaya, Garashlar, Bashirli, Agbulak, Dargaz, Nakhichevanik in the Agdam region.

On June 18, 1992, Lieutenant Colonel Shirin Mirzayev, while returning to his unit from a business trip to Baku, was blown up by a mine laid on the road to the village of Garalar.