[1][2] Born to a noble Ukrainian family of a naval medic hailed from Poltava Governorate,[1] in 1827 he took part in the Battle of Navarino,[1] and in 1835-1838 he twice circumnavigated the Earth.

Zavoyko also encouraged agricultural expansion, urging each household to sustain itself with potato farming.

[3] In 1854, during the Crimean War, Zavoyko led the successful defence against the Siege of Petropavlovsk by the allied British-French troops commanded by Rear Admirals David Price and Auguste Febvrier Despointes.

[1] In the winter of 1855, Zavoyko was in charge of the transfer the main Russian Pacific naval base from Petropavlovsk to the Amur estuary.

One daughter, Ekaterina Vasilievna, married Vasily Grinevetsky the professor of engineering at the Imperial Moscow Technical School.