The 15-year-old athlete received 90.38 points from the judges, surpassing her own world record.
She did a triple axel, a triple flip, as well as a cascade of triple lutz - a triple toe loop.
The second place was taken by Sofya Muravyova (81.87), and the three-time champion of Russia Anna Shcherbakova (81.46) closed the top three.
The skater's free program will be presented on December 25.
Start - 18:00 Moscow time.
Earlier it was reported that Shcherbakova was pleased with her performance in the short program in the Chechen Republic.