His father Mikhail Nikolayevich Rusinov (Russian: Михаил Николаевич Русинов) taught at the N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory.

His mother Yevdokiya Vasilyevna Rusinova (Russian: Евдокия Васильевна Русинова) studied piano under Anton Rubinstein.

After graduation from technical school at the age of 18, Rusinov joined the Leningrad Optical Mechanical Association (LOMO) as an optician designer.

Returning to Saint Petersburg in October 1944, he became the Scientific Supervisor of the North-East Aerogeodesy Institute Laboratory of Optics and Mechanics.

In 1958 he worked on design of wide angle lenses at the Geodesy, Aerophotography and Cartography Central Research Institute.

Rusnov was married to Nadezhda Agaltsova, a colleague who shared with him the 1982 Lenin Prize for the development of wide-angle aerophotography lenses.

His vision deteriorated with age, urging him to change from long-distance winter swimming to dipping in an ice bath.