Together with Elena Kostenko in Leningrad Secondary Art School studied many well known in the future Russian artists and sculptors including Mikhail Anikushin, Evgenia Antipova, Vladimir Chekalov, Abram Grushko, Iya Venkova, Maya Kopitseva, Anatoli Levitin, Oleg Lomakin, Nina Veselova, Vecheslav Zagonek, Alexei Eriomin, Marina Kozlovskaya, Yuri Tulin, Victor Teterin, and others.
In 1952 Elena Kostenko graduated from Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after Ilya Repin in Viktor Oreshnikov personal Art Studio, together with Irina Baldina, Boris Lavrenko, Vladimir Chekalov, Boris Korneev, Abram Grushko, Oleg Lomakin, Alexei Eriomin, Marina Kozlovskaya, and well-known other artists.
During these years, Elena Kostenko many painted children and youth, with interest continuing the theme begun in graduation picture.
This allows to convey in the work of a special "thrill of life", to achieve full contact between artist and model, as well as of a certain view of man, which in the opinion of Elena Kostenko is the most important in the art of portrait.
[19] Among them are works "Offended" (1963),[20] "Winter Morning" (1964), "Portrait of son" (1969), "Students" (1977),[21] fairly attributable to the undoubted success of the author.
Paintings by Elena Mikhailovna Kostenko reside in Art museums and private collections in the Russia, France, Japan, Italy, in the U.S., England, and throughout the world.