Ivan Afanasenkov was born in 1914.

He graduated from Yeyskoye flight school in 1940.

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, mladshiy leitenant Afanasenkov served in 72 SmAP-SF, which was part of the Air Force of the Northern Fleet. This unit was equipped with Polikarpov I-153s.

He was posted from 72 SmAP-SF in April 1942 when he was posted to 27 IAP-SF.

In the evening on 29 April, 6./JG5 managed to catch the obsolescent I-153s in the air near Zapadnaya Litsa. In the uneven combat that followed, three biplanes were shot down (one by Unteroffizier Rudolf Müller (totally 92 victories)). Serzhant Kozshevnikov was killed while both starshiy leytenant Afanasenkov and starshiy leytenant Nikifor Ignat’yev survived; Ignat’yev with injuries in his leg. Under fire from German troops which again hit his wounded leg, Ignat’yev crawled from his crash-landed I-153 in no-man’s-land back to the Soviet lines. There he reported the “taran” of a Bf 109.
Starshiy leitenant Afanasenkov was shot down in flames and suffered burns, which sent him to hospital. It’s possible that Afanasenkov also claimed one Bf 109 in this combat since it’s known that he claimed one during the day.

In 1943, he was posted to 46 ShAP-ChF to fly Il-2s.

On 12 July 1943, starshiy leitenant Afanasenkov was killed in air combat.

At the time of his death, Afanasenkov was credited with 2 biplane victories.

Claims:

Kill no.	Date	Time	Number	Type	Result	Plane type	Serial no.	Locality	Unit
	1941
1	12/07/41		1	Bf 109	Destroyed	I-153		Air Force of the Northern Fleet	72 SmAP-SF
	1942
2	29/04/42	evening	1	Bf 109 (a)	Destroyed	I-153		near Zapadnaya Litsa	27 IAP-SF

Biplane victories: 2 destroyed.
TOTAL: 2 destroyed.
(a) Possibly claimed in combat with 6./JG5.

Sources:
All aces of Stalin 1936-1953 – Mikhail Bykov, 2014
Soviet Aces 1936-1953
Soviet Fighter Pilots 1936-1953 - Mikhail Bykov