Vladimir Pletnyov was born in Goychay. He lost his family early, came to Baku and lived under the care of his grandparents.

He studied at the Baku Choreographic School (1957-1966).

He joined the dance club at the Officers' House named after Hazi Aslanov, where he performed small ballet parts (1953-1961). While studying in the third grade of the choreographic school, he made his debut at the Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theater with the role of Carabosse in the ballet "The Sleeping Beauty" (Pyotr Tchaikovsky), and due to his success, he was accepted as a soloist into the ballet troupe in his final year. Since 1973, he has been teaching duet dance at the Baku Choreographic School. In 1978, due to a serious leg disease, he was appointed a coach-pedagogue at the Opera and Ballet Theater. In 1979, he worked as a ballet coach in the production of "1001 Nights" (Fikrat Amirov) staged at the Voronezh Opera and Ballet Theater. He is the author of a monograph about Gamar Almaszadeh, a performer of the National Azerbaijani Ballet.

Honored Artist (1970), People's Artist (1978), Laureate of the State Prize of the Azerbaijan SSR (1974) Vladimir Pletnyov died in 1988 and was buried in the Second Alley of Honor.