[7] His maternal grandfather was Jewish, from the Volgograd Oblast, who moved to Leningrad and married an ethnic Russian woman; he served as a tank commander during the Great Patriotic War and was declared missing in action in 1944.

In 1995 he became the general director of newly formed privately held company ZAO Lenin State Farm, where he also got the blocking shareholding.

[21] On 21 March, the Central Election Commission (CEC) refused Grudinin because of uncovered foreign accounts.

[23] On 24 July 2021, the CEC barred Grudinin from running for the State Duma in the 2021 Russian legislative election, accusing him of owning shares in a company registered in the country of Belize, where the electoral law formally forbids parliamentary candidates from owning offshore assets.

[24] On 23 December 2017, at the XVII Congress of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Grudinin was nominated as presidential candidate.

[26] Grudinin's nomination was criticized by many left-wing politicians, in particular, Sergey Mironov, Maxim Suraykin, Boris Kagarlitsky and others.

[30][31] During his campaign, Grudinin visited a total of 11 federal subjects, in addition to his home Moscow Oblast.

In case of victory, Grudinin promised to dissolve the State Duma, hold snap elections and nationalize the proceeds obtained illegally.

[36] He was awarded the medal In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow, Thanks to the President of the Russian Federation, an honorary diploma of the State Duma.