Katina was born in Moscow. She began going to school at age seven. Within a year, she left ordinary school and went to a music school and studied piano. When she was ten, she started singing with the child group "Avenue". She sang with them for three years before joining the vocal and instrumental group "Neposedi" ("Fidgety Children"). While a part of Neposedy, she met Julia Volkova and they became friends. Soon Lena left the group because of her age. Neposedy is for children up to 14 years old. At the age of 15 she was selected to be a part of the group which was later named Tatu (t.A.T.u). 