He was born 31 December 1948, in Bryansk, Russian SFSR, and is married to Yelena Ya.

Graduated from Kachynskoye Military Pilot School in 1970 and the Ordzhonikidze Aviation Institute, Moscow, in 1980.

From February 1989 on Afanasyev was training for a space flight aboard the Mir orbital station as the Mir-7 mission backup crew commander.

8 January to 9 July 1994, Afanasyev was participating in a space flight aboard the Soyuz-TM-18 transport vehicle and Mir orbital station as the Mir-15 mission crew commander.

20 February to 28 August 1999, he was participating in a 189-day space flight aboard the Soyuz-TM transport vehicle and Mir orbital station.

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.