He was born in early May in the city of Ungheni, an area west of Chișinău in the Moldovan SSR.

After graduating from the high school in 1971, he enrolled in the Soviet Armed Forces.

Papuc began to become more active in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union.

In 1991, he graduated from the Tashkent MVD High School (now the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan).

He returned to Moldova in 1997 to lead a special operations brigade in the armed forces.