Vasily Dmitrievich was born on March 26, 1819, in the village of Maloye Listveno. He was the younger brother of the famous Bryansk landowner Yakov Dmitrievich, the owner of the estate Nova Romanovka.

In 1836, Vasily Dmitrievich graduated from the Imperial Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum with a silver medal and that same year began working as an official in the office of the Committee of Ministers. In 1838, he was appointed secretary to the director of the Department of State Treasury. In 1841, he received the title of chamber junker of His Imperial Majesty's court. From 1846, Vasily Dmitrievich became the honorary inspector of the Pogar district school, and from 1849, the guardian of the Chernihiv charitable institutions. In 1857, he was elected the District Leader of the Nobility of Gorodnitsa, and in 1865 and 1870, he held the position of governor of Yekaterinoslav. In 1870, he was appointed governor of Mogilev.

Vasily Dmitrievich was married twice: first to Sofia Alexeyevna Svechina, then to Alexandra Alexandrovna Miloradovich. He had five sons and four daughters. Vasily Dmitrievich passed away on October 20, 1892, in Kyiv and was buried in the village of Velikoye Listveno, Gorodnitsa district.