He won his first national title indoors with a personal best of 5.65 m at the beginning of 2006 and went on to make his senior debut for Russia at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Moscow, where he was eliminated in the qualifying round. Later that year he competed outdoors, finishing tenth in the qualifiers at the 2006 European Athletics Championships then ninth at the 2006 IAAF World Cup. He equalled his personal best to make the final at the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships, but managed only 5.41 m in the last round to finish sixth overall. While studying at university, he won his first student-level medal at the 2007 Summer Universiade, taking the bronze at the event in Bangkok. In August that year he set a new best outdoors with a clearance of 5.70 m in Tula.