Vilen Zlotnikov was born in 1927 in the Ukrainian city of Kherson. He was 3 years old when his family moved to Kharkov.

Vilen was growing up and studying in this city until the beginning of the Second World War. In August 1941 his family was evacuated to the village of Biketovka north of Stalingrad. Here he experienced war time starvation. In August 1942 he was badly contused after explosion of the German air-bomb.

Vilen was evacuated again to the hospital in the town of Rubtzovsk in the Altai Region. After recovery he started to work at the local plant, restored his studies and eventually was graduated from the high school.

At the end of the war he moved to Kharkov where he graduated from the University and became the construction engineer.

Here he met his future wife Lilia and got married. They immigrated to Canada in April 1975.

Vilen’s uncle was the member of the Soviet Government prior to the beginning of the Second World War, and Vilen met some ministers and Stalin.

Being a highly qualified construction engineer, Vilen had the opportunity to get to know many individuals of various nationalities and professions.

His epic novel entitled “Saga of Destinies“, describes their lives and fates in the context of the modern history. It was published by the Publishing House “Albion” in 2015.