His father was the late writer Georgij Hasakoevich Dzugaev; his mother is Fatima Alihanovna Kaloeva.
After graduating there, he was recommended for a continuation of his piano studies at the Moscow Conservatory, which he did not attend, however.
From 1980 to 1982, Dzugaev served in the Soviet Army, as an artillery officer in the Transbaikal Military District.
In 1996, after South Ossetia created the office of a president, Dzugaev was elected as the replacement of Lyudvig Chibirov.
From 1999 until 2001, Dzugaev was head of the State Committee on Press and Mass Communications.