Ilina started out competing as an individual gymnast. Her first major international tournament was competing in the junior division at the 2012 Moscow Grand Prix. In 2013, Ilina began competing as a Group gymnast, she was member of the Russian Group at the 2013 European Junior Championships with Russia taking the gold medal scoring a total of (33.916) ahead of Belarus (32.700) and Bulgaria (32.532) in the all-around competition. They won another gold medal in 5 hoops final.