At the end of the season he agreed a deal to join reigning Premier League champions Shakhtar Donetsk.

[2] He made his debut for the club in a 7–1 Super Cup victory over Tavriya Simferopol, coming on as a substitute.

He scored his first goal for the club on 23 November 2010 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage victory over Partizan Belgrade.

He came on in the 109th minute of Shakhtar's 2–1 extra time victory over Metalurh Donetsk in the Ukrainian Cup Final.

The two made up after the game and exchanged jerseys, but afterwards Yarmolenko threw Stepanenko's shirt on the ground while he thanked the Dynamo Kyiv fans.

[12] On 26 September 2023, Stepanenko made his 400th appearance for Shakhtar Donetsk in their Ukrainian Cup Round of 16 game against Veres Rivne.

On 17 November 2010, he made his debut for the senior side in the 2:2 draw with Switzerland in a friendly match, coming on as a 65th-minute substitute for Taras Mykhalyk.

[19] On 26 March 2013, Stepanenko received red card for high kick on Vitaliy Bordiyan in a World Cup qualification match against Moldova.

Taras Stepanenko spoke against the tattoo culture among football players and cited his Christian beliefs as the reason.