A good officer,[clarification needed] he rose through the ranks and in 1990 he graduated from the M. V. Frunze Military Academy.

Later after promotion to General officer rank, he commanded the 2nd Guards Tamanskaya Motor Rifle Division of the Russian Ground Forces in the Moscow Military District from 1995 to 1996.

[3] In 1998, he graduated from the General Staff Academy and was appointed the commander of the 12th Russian Military Base in Batumi, Georgia's Autonomous Republic of Adjara.

The 76th Airborne Division was sent from its garrison in Pskov to reinforce 58th Army, and took part in the Battle of Tskhinvali.

In December 2022, the International Criminal Court investigation uncovered Borisov's role in war crimes committed during the hostilities, but no warrant was issued as he had died in November 2021.