He attended the senior special officer program at the N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy in 1987.

In 2007, Korolyov was appointed deputy commander of the Northern Fleet and in 2008, he commanded a squadron of ships including the battlecruiser Pyotr Velikiy and the Udaloy-class destroyer Admiral Chabanenko which participated in exercises in the Caribbean Sea visiting Cuba, Venezuela and Panama.

Korolyov was appointed chief of staff and deputy commander of the Northern Fleet in 2009.

Korolyov was appointed as acting commander of the Russian Navy when his predecessor, Viktor Chirkov had to take sick leave.

[2] Korolyov retired from his post on 3 May 2019 and was replaced as Commander in Chief of the Navy by Nikolai Yevmenov.