From 2009 to 2010, he was the commander of the 36th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade of the Far Eastern Military District.

After graduating from the Academy in 2012, he served as Deputy Commander of the 58th Army of the Southern Military District from 2012 to 2014 and Chief of Staff - Deputy Commander of the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army of the Western Military District 2014 to 2016.

[4] The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claims that Nikiforov was involved in the attack by pro-Russian participants in the armed conflict in Donbas on the Il-76 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force, which was shot down on 14 June 2014 in Luhansk.

In February 2020, Nikoforov became the Chief of Staff - First Deputy Commander of the Eastern Military District.

[12][13] On 12 June 2021, he hosted a parade at Khmeimim Air Base to mark Russia Day.

[14][15] According to Ukrainian intelligence, on 26 December 2022, Nikiforov has been the commander of the troops of the Western Military District.

[17] On this day, we honor our Motherland - a country with a thousand-year history and a unique heritage that united many peoples, territories and cultures in a vast space.

On 30 November 2024, the SBU charged Nikiforov in absentia for ordering the August 2023 Chernihiv missile strike that killed seven people and injured 200 others during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.