CREATIVE DOSSIER: Vladislav Plakhin
Nikita Kakhovka / Photo from personal archive
SHORT PROFILE
Name: Vladislav Plakhin
Date of Birth: March 5, 1975
Place of Birth: Nova Kakhovka, Ukraine
Profession: rehabilitation therapist-masseur, photographer, writer
He chose to speak to the world not under his own name, but through a persona he created — the pseudonym Nikita Kakhovka, behind which a distinctive voice gradually emerged. Before the war, that voice had already found expression in three books, discovered its readers, and begun building a dialogue that does not strive for mass appeal, but values depth and honesty.
The war changed not only the circumstances of life, but also the very tone of his writing. Two years of military service — from April 2022 to April 2024 — became a time of inner work, observation, and documenting reality. This is how the column “Gray Everyday Life” came into being — an attempt to preserve and comprehend what usually escapes attention. At the same time, short stories, poems, and photographs were created — fragments of personal experience assembled into a unified, almost documentary narrative.
Today, Vladislav continues working on his new novel My Own Prison and is also searching for a form of living dialogue with the viewer and reader. His creative evening The Story of My Photographs, held on April 25, 2026, became the first step toward a synthesis of the visual and the textual — a space where images, words, and memory resonate as a single statement.
What is the very first creative moment in your life that you remember?
In 1996, I was sent on a business trip to a village, where I worked as a lathe operator. All kinds of interesting and funny moments from the villagers’ lives kept catching my eye, and in my head they became even funnier, so I decided to write them down. I understood that when I returned to my hometown, my family and friends would ask me “how I spent the summer”. And by then I might forget some things and have nothing to tell. So I kept notes. It could hardly even be called storytelling; sometimes people would point out my mistakes as a writer, but at that time I had never even thought about becoming one. And yet, it turned out funny and interesting.
What is your creative ambition?
To share the knowledge and spiritual values I have gained. The things I have discovered for myself. And, if possible, to make the world a better place.
What prevents you from fulfilling your creative ambitions?
I still haven’t met a publisher who would read my works.
What does your day begin with?
Back when I quit my job and devoted myself entirely to creativity, that was exactly how my day began. The first thing I did was turn on the computer. Today, however, my day begins with getting ready for work.
Which creative personalities do you admire the most?
That’s a difficult question to answer. But the ones who have probably stayed with me the most are Mikhail Bulgakov and Jack London… Alexander Pushkin, Sergei Yesenin…
Is there anyone in your life who constantly inspires you?
There used to be. Now life itself inspires me.
How would you define a muse? And who is your muse?
I think it is Love. In both the specific and the broader sense.
How do you react when you encounter a superior mind or talent?
First and foremost, with admiration. Perhaps also with jealousy.
How do you act when you encounter obstacles on the path to success or the threat of failure?
I worry, but then I pull myself together and continue on my way.
How do you understand mastery?
It is hard work.
What is your biggest dream?
To meet Her — the one and only.
Over the past decade, Ukraine has changed…
The level of culture has declined, and there is less faith and humanity.
I want to change in my hometown…
To make the city cultured again.
If not your city, then which city in Ukraine?..
Nova Kakhovka.
A metaphor, literary hero, or association for modern Ukraine…
Air and purity.
Is it possible to forgive an enemy?
Yes. That is our humanity. That is our strength.
The best advice you have ever received in life…
Once I asked: “What is there left to write about, if everything about everyone has already been written?” And I received the answer: “Don’t think about that — just write”.
Is there a phrase you live by?
From one of my poems:
But he walks on, ignoring the wound. The desire to know drives him forward. The pursuit of truth is stronger than faith. But it will be bitter — know that
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