On 20 December 2011, Moskvina said they had requested to be excused from the 2012 Russian Championships to allow Smirnov to heal from a knee injury which arose before the Grand Prix Final. On 4 January 2012, Smirnov had emergency surgery to remove his appendix and an intestinal hernia. Since he was unable to recover in time for the pair to compete at the European Championships in Sheffield, Great Britain from 23 to 29 January they were replaced by Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov.