Mladshiy leitenant Masnikov served in 3./7 IAP during the Finnish-Soviet Winter War. This unit was equipped with Polikarpov I-153s.

On 20 February, 7 IAP claimed six destroyed and three destroyed on the ground. The I-153s from 3./7 IAP claimed four Bulldogs between Hanhijärvi – Lappeenranta when starshiy leitenant Aleksey Baranov claimed two, mladshiy leitenant Nikolay Ivanov claimed one while mladshiy leitenant Ivan Dubovik and mladshiy leitenant Masnikov claimed the fourth as a shared. starshiy leitenant Baranov and mladshiy leitenant Ivanov also claimed one enemy aircraft each destroyed on the ground at Utti.
Starshiy politruk Pavel Kalinichenko (I-16 from 1./7 IAP) and leitenant Nikolay Kachkovsky (I-16) claimed the other two over Utti.
The third enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground was claimed by nine I-16s from 1./7 IAP at Utti. Pilots were Franchuk, starshiy politruk Nikolay Isayev, Istaukhin, Ivanov, starshiy politruk Pavel Kalinichenko, Kashrin starshiy leitenant Vladimir Kuochkin, Martynov and Shurdukov.

Masnikov ended the war with 1 shared biplane victory.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1940
	20/02/40		1/2	Bulldog (a)	Shared destroyed	I-153		Hanhijärvi - Lappeenranta	3./7 IAP

Biplane victories: 1 shared destroyed.
TOTAL: 1 shared destroyed.
(a) Not verified with Finnish records.

Sources:
All aces of Stalin 1936–1953 – Mikhail Bykov, 2014
Red Stars 7 - Talvisota Ilmassa - The Winter War In the Air - Carl-Fredrik Geust, 2011 Apali Oy, Tampere, ISBN 978-952-5877-04-5
Soviet Aces 1936-1953
Soviet Fighter Pilots 1936-1953 - Mikhail Bykov
Suomen Ilmavoimat part II – 1928-40 – Kalevi Keskinen and Kari Stenman, 2006, ISBN 952-99743-0-2