Born in Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, Ekaterina Rubleva grew up in Moscow and competed internationally for Russia for her entire career.

She is the daughter of ice dancers Svetlana Bakina and Boris Rublev who represented the Soviet Union.

[2] Rubleva / Shefer began competing internationally in the 2001–2002 season and debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix.

In the 2002–2003 season, Rubleva / Shefer won the silver medal at the 2002–2003 ISU Junior Grand Prix event in China and placed 4th at the event in Germany to qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final, where they placed 8th.

In the 2003–2004 season, they won silver medals at both their events on the 2003–2004 ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit to qualify for the Final.

They changed coaches in spring 2006, moving from Elena Kustarova to Alexander Svinin and Irina Zhuk.

At Europeans, Rubleva suffered a wardrobe malfunction during the compulsory dance when a strap on her dress broke and briefly exposed her right breast.