Ivan Shabunin was born on October 9, 1935, in the town of Novoanninsky, modern Volgograd Oblast.

In 1990 he was elected people's deputy of the RSFSR, was a member of the Supreme Council Committee on economic reform and property.

September 4, 1991 appointed Head of Administration of Volgograd Oblast, he remained in this post until 1996.

In 1997 he was invited to the post of first deputy chairman of the CIS Executive Committee in Minsk, where he worked until 1999, but was forced to return to Volgograd due to unabating longing for his native land.

A sculptor, Pavel Cherkis, dedicated a monument to him, which the project cost 190 thousand rubles.