At a young age, Neustroev worked in the local mine as a mechanic. At June 1941, shortly before the war with Germany, he was conscripted and sent to the Cherkasy Infantry School. Lieutenant Neustroev was dispatched to the front on November, joining the 166th Infantry Division. He was severely wounded in a battle near Gzhatsk. He was wounded again on August 1942 and spent several months in hospital. At April 1943, Captain Neustroev was appointed commander of the 1st Battalion in the 756th Regiment, a post he held to the end of the war. The Battalion took part in the fighting for Belarus, Poland and the Baltics.