[1] Rybakov was born in 1946 in Mariinsk, Kemerovo Oblast in Siberia, at a camp for political prisoners, to a family of naval officers from Saint Petersburg.

In 1974, Rybakov finished art school, college, and later studied at the Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute for Painting.

[2][3][4] Rybakov was convicted for a particularly daring act of "hooliganism" and embezzlement to six years imprisonment at a stronger prison regime.

The talks failed to agree on the release of most hostages – to ensure the safety of terrorists along with them on the buses back to Chechnya, only 140 volunteers were to go, including negotiators.

Member of the International Society for Human Rights, the editorial board of the journals "The Edge" and "Seeding" partnership "Free Culture".