The son of a Greek citizen Georgy Popandopulo (alleged spelling of the surname) and Claudia Ivanovna Pozdnyakova; he was the younger brother of Georgy Georgievich Popandopulo, who worked on radio under the pseudonym Georgy Rakhmanov as a radio host. After the death of his parents, together with his brother, he was brought up by his aunt from his mother's side Vera Ivanovna Protasova in the city of Lebedyan, Lipetsk region. After the war, he took USSR citizenship.
