He previously held the position of Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

His father Ilmir Nasikhovich Temirgaliev moved to Crimea in 1983, after finishing his military service in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany.

After studying he worked as a teacher of economic policy in the Crimean Institute of Economy and Administrative Law.

In 2003-05 he was a member of the Crimean republican government and in 2003-04 he was a deputy chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Family and Youth.

[4] [5] On April 2, 2014, Rustam Temirgaliev was placed on the SBU wanted list for "actions aimed at violent change or overthrow the constitutional order or the seizure of state power" (Article 109, part 1, Criminal Code of Ukraine).