After graduating in 1977 from the Military Academy of Armored Forces named after Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya.

From 1989 to 1991 he served as commander of the 6th Guards Tank Army in the Kiev Military District, and in May 1991 he was commander of the 2nd Guards Tank Army, as part of the Western Group of Forces, reaching the rank of lieutenant general in the USSR Armed Forces.

[2] On 4 June 1992, Sobkov was appointed Chief of the General Staff - 1st Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine,[3] but on 25 September of the same year he was transferred to the post of commander of the Carpathian Military District instead of Lieutenant General Valeriy Stepanov, who had led the district for only a few months.

[5] On 7 April 1994, he was appointed the first, after the creation of the position, Commander of the Ground Forces - Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine.

[8] On 16 November 2004, by decree of the President of Ukraine, L. D. Kuchma, he was dismissed from military service due to his health.