Born into a family with a distinguished military past, Kasatonov studied at naval institutions in Leningrad and on the Black Sea, before joining the navy's Northern Fleet.

Much of his early service was spent aboard the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Kirov, rising through the ranks to eventually serve as her assistant commander.

After further study at the Naval Academy, he was appointed head of the department of the mobilization at the Northern Fleet headquarters, before becoming captain of the battlecruiser Pyotr Velikiy in 2000.

His great-grandfather Afanasy Stepanovich was a non-commissioned officer who received the Order of St. George while serving with the Uhlan Regiment of Her Imperial Majesty Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

[1] In September 1987 he was appointed commander of the Kirov's missile division, and in February 1988 he was promoted to the rank of captain-lieutenant, one and a half years ahead of schedule.

[1] In September 1988 he was appointed assistant commander of the Kirov and in April 1989 participated in the rescue of the crew of the nuclear submarine Komsomolets, which sank in the Barents Sea after suffering a fire on board.

[1] He entered the Naval Academy in September 1997, graduating with honours in June 1999, and was appointed head of the department of mobilization at the Northern Fleet headquarters.

[1] It was during the Northern Fleet's annual exercises in the Barents Sea in August 2000 that the Oscar II-class submarine K-141 Kursk suffered a fatal accident and sank.

Observers noted that the comments probably reflected in-fighting in the naval high command, where Kuroyedov was under pressure after a series of accidents, including the loss of the Kursk and the foundering of the K-159 in August 2003.

[1] He attended the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces from September 2006, and in August 2008 was appointed commander of the Northern Fleet's 43rd missile ship division.

[2][9][11] On 3 October 2016 he was appointed head of the Naval Academy, taking over in a ceremony attended by his predecessor, Vice-Admiral Aleksandr Nosatov, and the Chief of Staff of the Navy Andrei Volozhinsky.

[12] During the ceremony Volozhinsky described Kasatonov as "a true professional with a brilliant track record who has devoted many years to the service in the Northern and Pacific Fleets.

[1] In 2017 a museum to the Kasatonov family was opened in Belenikhino, Prokhorovsky District, in Belgorod Oblast, home of Vladimir Lvovich's great-grandfather Afanasy Stepanovich.