Rukavytsya was born in Mykolayiv, in the then Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union; his family moved to Australia when he was 14 years old, settling in Perth.

[4][5] Rukavytsya joined Perth Glory on a short-term replacement deal in the latter stages of the 2006–07 A-League season, making three appearances for the club.

[13][14] Rukavytsya scored his first goal for FC Twente in the club's 8–0 Dutch Cup drubbing of SC Joure.

[20] On 31 August, Nikita signed with Bundesliga club Mainz 05 for a reported fee of €1 million,[21] just hours before the transfer cut-off.

[22] Rukavytsya joined Frankfurt on a year-long loan deal in August 2013, after failing to break into the Mainz first eleven.

[23] On 12 October 2014, it was announced that Rukavytsya had returned to Australia to sign for the Western Sydney Wanderers.

After a good end to the 2007–08 season, he earned himself a place in the Olyroos squad for the Beijing Olympics and a Socceroos call-up.

[31] Rukavytsya was named in Pim Verbeek's 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Rukavytsya scored his first international goal in a friendly against South Korea on 14 November 2012, Australia won 2–1.