Yulia Vyacheslavovna Lipnitskaya was born on 5 June 1998 in Yekaterinburg, Russia.She was raised by a single mother, Daniela, who gave her own surname to Yulia.Her father, Vyacheslav, was drafted into the Russian army while her mother was pregnant, and he chose not to return to the family afterwards.Her grandmother, Evgenia Koklova, engaged in acrobatics, skating, and sailing in her youth.Lipnitskaya is home-schooled and her hobbies include horse riding and drawing.Lipnitskaya began training at age four after her mother convinced the experienced skating coach Elena Levkovets to accept her as a student.She skated in Yekaterinburg until 2009 when she and her mother began to discuss her future, concluding that they should either relocate for the purposes of her skating career or leave the sport.They moved to Moscow where Lipnitskaya joined Eteri Tutberidze's group in March 2009.

In the 2009–10 season, Lipnitskaya placed fifth on the junior level at the 2010 Russian Championships. She was fourth on the senior level the following season at the 2011 Russian Championships. She also competed at the 2011 Russian Junior Championships but withdrew from the competition after the short program.