He was born March 1, 1963, in Nalchik (USSR). He was a student of BV Johansson St. Petersburg State Academic Art Lyceum in the Department of Painting, in St. Petersburg, Russia, between 1978 and 1981. He also studied at the Repin St. Petersburg State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in the Department of Painting, in St. Petersburg, Russia, between 1988 and 1996.