Bondarenko made his international debut in the 1996 European Junior Championships at 17 where he won the gold medal in the all-around.

The next year, in 1996, he ranked sixth in the all-around in the Russian Championships but he was not selected to compete in the 1996 Olympics.

In the 1997 Russian Championships, he ranked second in the all-around and first in the pommel horse, still rings and vault, although Alexei Nemov was not in this competition.

In the 1998 Goodwill Games, Bondarenko won another silver in the all-around, and the pommel horse and still rings, and a bronze on floor exercise.

He was seventh in the all-around in the 2001 Brisbane Goodwill Games, and won a bronze medal on floor exercise, and was a finalist on pommel horse, still rings, vault and parallel bars.

During the World Championships in 2001, however, Bondarenko was 18th in the all-around and did not medal in the other event finals where he qualified, on floor exercise and on the vault.

It was said that not only did NBC not show the Russian's two falls, viewers were not given any kind of indication that they had happened, and that at no point did the network's gymnastics commentators or studio hosts say that Bondarenko had been injured and taken to the hospital.