Her first medal in a major event was a bronze medal at the 1999 Cadet World Championships in Dijon, followed by another bronze medal at the 2001 Junior European Championships in Keszthely and at the 2003 Junior World Championships in Trapani. She began fencing in the senior category in the 2002–03 season and climbed the podium in her first World Cup competition with a bronze at the Moscow Grand Prix. That same year she was included in the Russian national team and with Yelena Nechayeva, Sofiya Velikaya and Nataliya Makeyeva she won in Bourges her first European medal, a team bronze.