Valeri Ivanovich Tokarev (Russian: Валерий Иванович Токарев; born 29 October 1952) is a Russian Air Force colonel and test cosmonaut at the Yuri A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. Tokarev traveled to space twice, and has performed two career spacewalks, before retiring in June 2008.

In 26 March 2009, Tokarev joined the United Russia party. On 8 September 2013, he was elected head of Zvyozdny Gorodok for five years, receiving 67.9% of the vote.

Tokarev was born on 29 October 1952 in Kapustin Yar, Astrakhan Oblast, Soviet Union. He is married to Irina Tokareva (née Nikolayevna), with whom they have two children: a daughter, Olya, and a son, Ivan, and reside at Star City, Moscow Oblast. His mother, Lidiya, lives in the city of Rostov, Yaroslavl Region and his father, Ivan Pavlovich, died in an auto accident in 1972. Tokarev's interests include nature, automobiles, airplanes, and sports.

In 1973, Tokarev graduated from Stavropol Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots and Navigators. In 1982, he completed with honours his studies at the Test Pilot Training Center (TPTC) in Akhtubinsk. From 1989 to 1993 he studied by correspondence at the Yu. A. Gagarin Military Air Academy in Monino, and from 1996 to 1997 Tokarev studied at the National Economy Academy under the Russian Federal Government, full-time/correspondence tuition and received a master's degree in state administration.

Tokarev is a 1st Class Air Force Pilot and a 1st Class Test Pilot. Tokarev has gained proficiency and flight experience with 44 types of airplanes and helicopters and has logged more than 3000 hours. He has participated in tests of fourth-generation carrier-based aircraft and vertical/short takeoff and landing jets (Su-27K, MiG-29K, Yak-38M, Su-25UTG), as well as bomber and missile navy fleet jets (Su-24M).

In 1987, Valeri Tokarev was selected to join the cosmonaut corps to test and fly the Buran spacecraft. Since 1994, he has served as commander of a group of cosmonauts of aerospace systems. Since termination of the Buran program in 1997, Tokarev has been assigned as a test cosmonaut at the Yuri A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

Tokarev flew on STS-96, on 27 May 1999. STS-96 was a mission flown by Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station (ISS). It was first shuttle flight to dock with the ISS. Tokarev served as a mission specialist. During the 10-day mission, the crew of Discovery delivered four tons of logistics and supplies to the ISS in preparation for the arrival of the first crew to live on the station. On flight day 2, Tokarev temporarily stowed some logistics transfer items stored on the shuttle's middeck, in the Spacehab module to provide more room for the spacesuit checkout activities. On 29 May Tokarev and NASA astronaut Ellen Ochoa temporarily stowed docking targets and lights and checked hatch seals in the narrow passageway inside the Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA 2). The next day, he and Canadian astronaut Julie Payette traveled to the Zarya module and began maintenance activities on the storage batteries located under the floorboard. He and Payette replaced battery recharge controllers. To reduce noise levels in the Zarya module, Tokarev also installed acoustic insulation around some fans. He was also involved with the transfer of logistics items by documenting and stowing items aboard the ISS. On 1 June Tokarev took time out to answer questions regarding the progress of the mission from Russian reporters.

At the end of the mission on 6 June, Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center runway 15 at 2:02:43 a.m. EDT. The mission was accomplished in 153 Earth orbits, traveling 4 million miles in 235 hours and 13 minutes.