Pavlov began learning to skate in 2003. He competed on the novice level in the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 seasons.
2012–2013 season
Coached by Maryna Amirkhanova, Pavlov debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series. He placed eighth at his JGP assignments in France and Turkey and then won junior titles at the Bavarian Open and Ukrainian Junior Championships. Ukraine selected him to compete at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan, Italy; he would qualify to the free skate and finish 20th overall.
2013–2014 season
Pavlov finished eighth and seventh respectively at his JGP assignments in Slovakia and Estonia. After taking the junior silver medal at the 2013 Cup of Nice, he became the Ukrainian national senior bronze medalist. Pavlov was assigned to his second World Junior Championships. He ranked 16th in both segments and finished 15th overall.
began coaching Pavlov in the 2015–2016 season. Starting his season on the JGP series, Pavlov finished 8th in Bratislava, Slovakia, before winning a bronze medal in Linz, Austria. He then appeared on the senior level, placing 7th at the International Cup of Nice and 5th at his first ISU Challenger Series event, the 2015 Tallinn Trophy. In December 2015, he placed first in both segments at the Ukrainian Championships and outscored Paniot for the gold medal by 7.42 points. Pavlov made his senior ISU Championship debut in January 2016 at the European Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia. He qualified for the final segment by placing 13th in the short program and then placed 15th in the free, resulting in a final placement of 15th. Ranked 24th in the short, he also reached the free skate at the 2016 World Championships in Boston.
2016–2017 season
Competing in the 2016 JGP series, Pavlov placed 4th in Ostrava and 7th in Ljubljana. In the senior ranks, he took gold at Ice Star and finished 7th at the International Cup of Nice. At the Ukrainian Championships, he placed second in the short and first in the free, winning gold by a margin of 0.87 over Paniot. Pavlov was assigned to two senior-level ISU Championships and qualified to the final segment at the first, the 2017 European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic; he placed 15th in the short program, 14th in the free skate, and 14th overall. At the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, he placed 25th in the short program, scoring 0.06 less than the final skater who qualified to the free skate. He trained with Shkidchenko until the end of the season.
2017–2018 season
During the 2017–2018 season, Pavlov was coached by Amirkhanova. In December, he finished second to Paniot at the Ukrainian Championships. In March, he competed at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria; he placed fourth in the short program, eighth in the free skate with a personal best score, and eighth overall. His placement allows Ukraine to send two entries to the next edition of the event. Pavlov finished 29th at the 2018 World Championships in Milan, Italy.
