Karina was born into a family of immigrants from the USSR, her father is from Moldova, and her mother is from Belarus. The young athlete started doing gymnastics in Toronto at the Kalev Estienne club with Anastasia Shikhareva, a former member of the Ukrainian national team in group exercises.

Karina's other coach, Svetlana Zhukova, came to Canada in 1994 on the recommendation of Irina Vinner, the head of the  Russian national team, and has been working there ever since with athletes who compete in the Olympics and World Championships.

The Sky Grace-2021 Tournament was Karina's first tournament in Russia. The athlete won the right to participate in these competitions after winning the Canadian Junior Championship in 2021.