Since June 1943 — on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. He participated in the Battle of Kursk on the Voronezh Front, in which he almost died: being shell-shocked, he was covered with earth and was accidentally discovered by soldiers of a neighboring unit while his relatives had already managed to send a "funeral". Soon he returned to the ranks, participated in the Battle of the Dnieper, the battles on the Lutezh bridgehead, Kiev, Zhytomyr-Berdichev, Korsun-Shevchenko operations. Subsequently, the regiment was transformed into the 235th Guards Regiment. As part of it, Afanasyev participated in the Lviv-Sandomierz operation as part of the 1st Ukrainian Front.
By January 1945, Guards Senior Sergeant Vasily Afanasyev commanded the gun crew of the 235th Guards fighter-anti-tank artillery Regiment of the 10th Separate Guards fighter-anti-tank artillery Brigade of the 1st Ukrainian Front. Distinguished himself during the Vistula-Oder operation.
From January 12 to January 24, 1945, Afanasyev's calculation with battles passed more than 350 kilometers, despite the off-road and muddy roads. Having reached the Oder, Afanasyev, on the night of January 23-24, despite the fire of German troops, transported his gun on his hands over thin ice to the captured bridgehead in the area of modern Golchowice (Poland). Over the next few days, Afanasyev's crew took part in repelling several enemy attacks, destroyed four machine-gun emplacements and about 60 German soldiers and officers. In total, during the Vistula-Oder operation, Afanasyev's calculation destroyed 7 German tanks, and a total of 18 during the war.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated April 10, 1945, Guard Senior Sergeant Vasily Afanasyev was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal number 8928.
In February 1945, while at the front, he joined the CPSU (b). Participated in the Berlin and Prague operations, met in Prague on May 9, 1945. He was also awarded the Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Red Star, the Glory of the 3rd degree, the medal "For Courage", a number of other medals, including two foreign ones. In 1946, with the rank of guard sergeant, Afanasyev was discharged into the reserve, after which he returned to Kostanay. He worked as an educator at the Kostanay Vocational School No. 18, then in the personnel departments of the Kostanay Meat Processing Plant and the construction and installation department No. 18 of the construction trust No. 2. In 1964-1984, he served in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the personnel department of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Kostanay Regional Executive Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kazakh SSR, had a special rank of lieutenant colonel of the militia. In 1975 Afanasyev became an Honorary citizen of the city of Kostanay, and in 1981 — the village of Zatobolsk, one of the streets of the district center is named after him. He retired in 1984 and lived in the city of Kostanay (now Kostanay). He died on May 1, 1988.
In the funds of the Kostanay regional Historical and Exposition Museum there are awards and award documents of Afanasyev V.S. handed over by Afanasyeva T.N. - wife Afanasyev E.V. and son Afanasyev V.S. and local historians. In case No. 197, fund No. 2 (the fund is a collection of documents of personal origin of the Kostanay Regional Museum of Local Lore), 4 sheets are filed and numbered. The following materials are stored in the file:
Autobiography of the hero.
2 A copy of the award list on the Guards art .Sergeant Afanasyev V.S., presented to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Questionnaire for the Hero of the Soviet Union
4 Article by Afanasyev V.S. "For the Motherland – fire!" published in the newspaper "Leninsky Way" dated March 13, 1965 No. 50 (7738)
