Early years Samarin began skating in 2002. His very first coach was Lyubov Fedorchenko at the
Young Pioneers Stadium. In 2006, he switched to
CSKA Moscow, where he was coached by Inna Goncharenko. In the 2009–10 season, he won the novice event at the
2010 NRW Trophy in
Dortmund, Germany, and the junior silver medal at the International Crystal Skate 2010 in
Odintsovo, Russia. In 2011–12, he withdrew from the
2012 Russian Junior Championships due to illness.
2012–13 season In 2012–13, Samarin underwent eye surgery because of a detached retina at the start of the season. Debuting on the
ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series, he won a pair of bronze medals at
JGP events in Slovenia and Germany and became the first alternate for the
2012–13 Junior Grand Prix Final. At the
Russian Championships, he finished eighth in his first senior appearance and then won the silver medal on the junior level. He was assigned to the
2013 World Junior Championships, where he finished eighth.
2013–14 season In 2013–14, Samarin was assigned to one
JGP event in Belarus and finished fourth. At the
2014 Russian Championships, he placed thirteenth in seniors, landing his first triple Axel in competition in the free skate and then fourth at the junior level. Goncharenko coached him until the end of the season.
2014–15 season Samarin changed coaches ahead of the 2014–15 season, joining
Elena Buianova and Svetlana Sokolovskaya. He won bronze at his first
Junior Grand Prix event of the season, in
Courchevel, France, and then silver in
Ostrava, Czech Republic. Making his senior international debut, he took silver in November at the
2014 Ice Challenge, an
ISU Challenger Series (CS) competition in
Graz, Austria, and finished eighth the following month at another CS event, the
2014 Golden Spin of Zagreb.
Nationally, he finished eleventh on the senior level and second on the junior level. Concluding his season, he placed sixth in the short, ninth in the free, and eleventh overall at the
2015 World Junior Championships in
Tallinn, Estonia.
2015–16 season Competing in the
2015–16 JGP series, Samarin finished fourth in
Slovakia and won gold in
Croatia. He appeared at two CS events, placing fourth at the
2015 Mordovian Ornament and winning the
2015 Warsaw Cup. At
Russian nationals, he ranked eighth on the senior level and won the silver medal as a junior, behind
Dmitri Aliev. He finished fourth at the
2016 World Junior Championships in
Debrecen after winning a small silver medal for the short program and placing fifth in the free skate.
2016–17 season Competing in the
2016–17 JGP series, Samarin won gold medals in
Saransk, Russia, and
Tallinn, Estonia. His medals qualified him to the
2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final in
Marseille. He competed at the senior level and won gold at the Volvo Open Cup in November. In December, he won silver in France, having finished second to
Dmitri Aliev, and then took silver at the
2017 Russian Championships, behind
Mikhail Kolyada. In January 2017, Samarin competed at the
2017 European Championships, where he placed eighth. In March 2017, Samarin competed at the
2017 Junior Worlds, where he won the bronze medal after placing third in the short program and fourth in the free skate.
2017–18 season Handicapped by an injury to his right foot, Samarin was off the ice for about four months and returned to full training beginning of September. In October 2017, Samarin made his debut at the
Grand Prix series. He won the bronze medal at the
2017 Skate Canada and placed fourth at the
2017 Internationaux de France. In December 2017, Samarin competed at the
2018 Russian Championships, where he won the silver medal behind
Mikhail Kolyada. In January 2018, he competed at the
2018 European Championships, where he placed sixth, lower than countrymen Kolyada and Aliev. He was consequently not named to the
Russian Olympic team for the
2018 Winter Olympics, where there were only two men's spots.
2018–19 season Samarin underwent knee surgery in May, was back on the ice in July, and started jumping again towards the end of August. Samarin started his season at the
2018 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy where he finished fifth. In his
Grand Prix events, he placed fourth at
2018 Skate Canada and won the bronze medal at
2018 Internationaux de France.
In early December, Samarin competed at the
2018 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb where he won the bronze medal. At the
2019 Russian Championships, Samarin placed fourth in the short program after falling on an attempted quad toe loop. In the free skate, he fell on the quad toe but recovered to land six clean triples. He placed second and won the bronze medal overall. In January 2019, he won the silver medal at the
2019 European Championships after placing second in both the short program and the free skate. Samarin landed a quad Lutz, quad toe, and six triple jumps in the free skate. His only major mistake was a two-footed triple loop. He achieved a new personal best score of 269.84 points and his first podium finish at a senior-level
ISU Championship. Samarin competed at the
2019 Winter Universiade, where he placed fourth. In March 2019, Samarin competed at the
2019 World Championships and placed twentieth in the short program, seventh in the free program, and twelfth overall. Samarin landed his first quad flip jump in competition. He concluded the season as part of the Russian team at the
2019 World Team Trophy, where he placed last in the short program after falling on both quad attempts and performed better in the free skate. Team Russia won the bronze medal overall.
2019–20 season Samarin began the season with a fourth-place finish at the
2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial before winning silver at the 2019
Shanghai Trophy. On the
Grand Prix, Samarin's first event was the
2019 Internationaux de France. In the short program, Samarin placed second behind
Nathan Chen, having made only a slight error on his triple Axel in a segment where most other competitors either popped or fell at least once. As a result, he was sixteen points ahead of the third-place
Kévin Aymoz going into the free skate. Samarin fell twice in the free skate, and finished third in that segment behind Chen and Aymoz, but won the silver medal overall. At the
2019 Rostelecom Cup, Samarin placed first in the short program despite falling on his quad flip and putting a foot down on his triple Axel. Narrowly first in the free skate as well, he became the first Russian man to win the Rostelecom Cup since
Evgeni Plushenko in
2009, and qualified for the
Grand Prix Final. He finished fourth at the Final. Samarin placed eighth in the short program at the
2020 Russian Championships after making errors on all three jumping passes and failing to complete his jump combination. Third in the free skate despite two falls, he won the bronze medal. Samarin was assigned to compete at the
European Championships, where he performed poorly in the short program after underrotating his quad Lutz and falling on an attempted quad toe loop without executing a combination. He was thirteenth in that segment. The free skate was also a struggle, rising to tenth place overall.
2020–21 season Samarin debuted his programs at the senior Russian test skates. Competing on the domestic Cup of Russia series, he won the silver medal at the second stage in
Moscow. He subsequently injured his back and, as a result, withdrew from his scheduled second Cup of Russia event as well as the
2020 Rostelecom Cup. After injuring his back, he contracted
COVID-19 as well, though this was only a mild case. Returning to competition at the
2021 Russian Championships, Samarin was fifth in the short program after falling on his quad Lutz and underrotating his triple Axel attempt. Sixth in the free skate, he remained in fifth place overall. Samarin competed at the
2021 Channel One Trophy, a televised event organized in lieu of the cancelled
European Championships. He was selected for the Time of Firsts team captained by
Evgenia Medvedeva. He placed sixth in both segments, and the Time of Firsts team finished in second place. He did not participate in the Russian Cup Final.
2021–22 season Samarin began the season with a bronze medal at the
Budapest Trophy. Competing on the
Grand Prix at the
2021 Skate Canada International, he placed eighth. He was sixth at
2021 NHK Trophy, his second Grand Prix, notably managing second place in the free skate. On the latter result, he said, "I'm happy about that, but I can still do better." At the
2022 Russian Championships, Samarin finished in sixth place. == Programs ==