He was the acting Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation from 1996 to 1997.

Previously in 1993 Samsonov was Chief of Staff at the Military Cooperation Headquarters of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

After graduating from college he was sent to a Naval Infantry unit, and commanded a platoon and company.

Graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in 1972 (as a class-mate of future Afghan war commander Boris Gromov).

During the August coup in August 1991, he was appointed military commander of the Leningrad State Emergency Committee, and ordered a state of emergency in Leningrad and the surrounding areas.