He was born on November 27, 1967, in Simferopol. From 1986 to 1988, he served in the Armed Forces of the USSR. He started his work for the Soviet Ministry of Interior as a police officer, the commander of a separate battalion of militia responsible for the private security (vnevedomstvennaya okhrana) in 1988. In 1999, he graduated from Odesa State University of Internal Affairs. Since February 1998, he has been part of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Main Control Ministry of Interior of Ukraine in Crimea. On 1 March 2014, Abisov became the Acting Chief of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Just nearly a month later, however, he became the acting Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Crimea.[6] By a decree from Vladimir Putin on May 6, 2014, Abisov was appointed as Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Crimea.[4]
Abisov has been dismissed from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine for "high treason",[7] and the Ukrainian authorities announced their desire to arrest Abisov.[8] He is suspected of committing crimes under Part 1 of Article 109 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine ("actions aimed at violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order or the seizure of state power").[9]