Shakkum was born on 21 September 1951 in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Russian SFSR, USSR.

An associate of radical economist Shatalin, Shakkum was on the right wing of the Russian political spectrum.

[7] He also proposed requiring all civil servants of federal and regional government bodies and deputies of elective bodies to publish their income reports and documentation of all property belonging to them and their immediate relatives, including adult children, both in Russia and abroad.

"[7] At the same time, however, Shakkum supported the existence natural resource monopolies, such as Gazprom, and warned against attempts to split them into smaller entities.

[7] Shakkum's original registration had been rejected by the Central Election Commission on account of lacking a sufficient number of signatures.

Commenting on the attack, Shakkum stated that he could not link the incident to his personal and public life.

At a meeting between a United Russia faction activist and Vladimir Putin in July 2006, Shakkum publicly invited him to join the party and lead it.