Two-time defending national champions Sinitsina/Katsalapov sat out the 2021 Russian Championships, making Zahorski/Guerreiro the presumptive silver medalists behind Stepanova/Bukin. They indeed placed second in both programs, taking another silver medal. While the 2021 European Championships had already been cancelled due to the pandemic, and assignments for the 2021 World Championships other than the national champions were withheld pending later domestic results.