Her breakthrough came at under 23 level, when she won gold in the 400 m hurdles in 2009 in a time of 56.14. This led to her representing Russia at the 2009 U23 European Championships. Following this, she moved to Moscow and was coached by Nikolay Chemerisov. In 2010, she competed in the Russian senior nationals, finishing in seventh. The next year, she improved to bronze, with a new personal best of 55.48. Because she didn't run a fast enough time to compete at the World Championships, she was instead sent to the 2011 Universiade, where she won silver.