Pereleshin was born in Irkutsk, where his father served as an official of the Siberian railroads.

[1] In 1939, he moved to Beijing and began working for the Russian Orthodox mission in China.

In 1950, his attempt to emigrate to the United States failed, as a result he was extradited to China.

Pereleshin was absent from Brazil four times: in 1973, he visited France and Belgium; in 1974, he participated in a poetry festival in Texas; in 1986, he was invited to the Netherlands by the Leiden University; and in 1989, he participated in the Poetry International festival in Rotterdam.

Through his contact with the Dutch slavist Jan Paul Hinrichs, Pereleshin donated part of his archive to the Leiden University Library, including his the numerous letters sent from Beijing and Shanghai to his mother, who stayed behind in Harbin.