Pavel Dmitriev was born in Tashkent in 1979, but, as he himself admits, his real life began in December 1995 in Bensonhurst, in southwest Brooklyn. The post-Soviet space was in the midst of the wild 90s, and gangsters working in conjunction with law enforcement agencies and local authorities set their sights on his stepfather's business. Realizing that it was futile to seek justice, Pavel's family was forced to drop everything and move to the United States.