Yeropkin began his military service at the age of thirteen. For a while he served as aide-de-camp to V.Ya. Levashov, commander-in-chief of Moscow. He also took part in the Seven Years' War, distinguishing himself in the battle at Kolberg under the command of Count Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky and thus winning imperial recommendation. In 1763 he submitted his resignation from military service on the grounds of "weak health".
In 1769, Yeropkin was appointed head of the Salt Office. On 25 March 1771, the Empress entrusted him with "supervision of the health of the whole city of Moscow". During the plague revolt in September 1771, the imperial authority instructed the future commander-in-chief to restore calm in the city. For his services he was awarded the order of St Andrew. In 1774 he retired, and almost twelve years passed before he returned to state service.
On being appointed to the post of commander-in-chief of Moscow, Yeropkin continued the work of his predecessors. The Mytishchi water supply system was completed, as was construction work on the administrative offices in the Kremlin. On I June 1786, the commander-in-chief presented for imperial consideration a General Plan for a Moscow aqueduct, together with a description of both completed and projected construction work and the money already expended. Three months later, a reserve bakery opened in the city "to prevent a shortage of bread and a consequent rise in prices".
The name of Yeropkin is also linked with effective measures to eliminate the dangerous aftermath of the floods of 1786 and 1788 and prevent similar floods in the future. To this end, the Moskvoretskaya Embankment opposite the Kremlin was strengthened with "wooden stumps". In order to restore and improve transport, existing bridges were repaired and new bridges built: the stone Kozmodemyansky Bridge, and the wooden Krymsky, Vysokopyatnitsky and Modelny Bridges.
In 1786, the two years of construction work on Pashkov House, designed by the architect V.I. Bazhenov and later recognised to be one of the most striking examples of the Moscow classical style, were completed. In 1788, Yeropkin requested the architects M.E Kazakov, Karin and Selekhov to verify "the structural soundness of the Petrovsky Theatre, and on the results of their inspection ... undertake certain repairs". M.E Kazakov also designed the university building on Mokhovaya Street, work on which began in 1786.
Unlike his predecessor Ya.A. Bryus, who sought to use the land in Byely Gorod and Zemlyanoi Gorod to lay boulevards and market squares, Yeropkin supported the preservation of residential buildings, since demolishing houses could result in "a sensible loss" for both the city treasury and property owners alike.
Yeropkin won imperial recommendation on several occasions for his many sendees as chief administrator of Moscow, and on 22 September 1788, he was awarded the order of St Vladimir, First Class.
On 19 February 1790, Yeropkin was relieved of all his duties at his own request, and he spent the rest of his life as a "private subject". His house on Ostozhenka (No.38) is now occupied by the Moscow State Linguistics University, and the lane between Ostozhenka and Prechistenka has recovered its former name—Yeropkinsky.
Yeropkin was buried in the village of Uspenskoye near Kaluga.
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