He was a master sergeant at the time and was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 26 October 1944.

[1] In January 1942, Nikolayev completed radiotelegraphic courses in Tashkent, and became the chief of a reserve cavalry regiment radio station in Chardzhou.

In July, Nikolayev was transferred to become the radio station commander of the 1035th Artillery Regiment of the 153rd Rifle Division.

When the division's assault began, Nikolayev used his radio with the help of the other men in the patrol to report coordinates of German artillery batteries.

On 26 October 1944, Nikolayev was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union[5] and the Order of Lenin.

[1] In August 1945, Nikolayev underwent officer training, graduating as a junior lieutenant,[2] and the following year he completed the postgraduate course for platoon commanders.

He then served in an artillery platoon as head of communications in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany until December 1946.

Between June and December 1961, he was the deputy senior military representative at the Voyennoye predstavitelstvo, responsible for weapons quality control.

From 1975 to 1986 he worked successively as head of operations of an office building, the assistant director of civil defense, engineer and instructor in fire safety and senior researcher at the National Research Institute of Textile and Haberdashery Industry.