With reigning national champions Sinitsina/Katsalapov sitting out the 2021 Russian Championships due to COVID-19 illness, the bronze medal position on the national podium was widely perceived to be open to contest between several teams, Skoptcova/Aleshin among them. They placed third in the rhythm dance. Due to a twizzle error from Skoptcova, they placed fourth in the free dance, but remained in third place overall to take bronze, standing on the senior national podium for the first time.