His father,
Vyacheslav Chukanov, is the 1980 Olympic champion in equestrian show jumping. He was born in
Italy at the time when his father had been living and working there for six years. His mother is also Russian. As a result, he has an Italian birth certificate but not the passport; his family never applied for citizenship despite being eligible. When Chukanov was 6, his family moved back to Russia, namely
St. Petersburg, where he started his youth career. While living in
Cosenza, he developed an interest in football and started to support
S.S. Lazio ‒ his father's favorite team. He has also cited
Hernán Crespo as his childhood footballing idol. ==References==