In the 1990s, after the USSR fell apart, the Lobaznyuk family fled to Tashkent due to violence and riots in the Fergana Valley area.

Help came in 1994 thanks to her grandmother, living in Russia at the time; the Lobaznyuks eventually settled in Rubtsovsk, a city of some 170,000 people located in southwestern Siberia.

It was at this meet in Japan that she gained the attention of fans worldwide with her appearance and her floor exercise, choreographed to the music "Hava Nagila".

She healed completely enough at the end of the year to win over Ukrainian gymnast Viktoria Karpenko at the Acapulco Cup in Mexico.

At the 2001 Russian Cup, while performing one of her signature Yurchenko vaults, Lobaznyuk landed very hard on the mat and collapsed in pain; she had to be picked up and carried off by one of her coaches.

She had two surgeries because the first one in Moscow, Russia was not performed properly; the second took place in Johannesburg, South Africa during her visit for a rehabilitation stint.

The next month Lobaznyuk attempted a comeback at the Russian National Championships, performing only on beam and floor exercise while her surgically repaired knee continued to heal.