Kostner, a five-time European champion and Olympic bronze medallist, has not taken part at a Grand Prix event since 2013.

The 30-year-old was banned for 21 months in January 2015 for being complicit in the cover-up of her former boyfriend and convicted drugs cheat Alex Schwazer, a race-walker who claimed the gold medal in the 50 kilometres at Beijing 2008.

She was declared eligible to compete from January 1 of last year after she settled a dispute with the Italian National Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Her suspension was backdated to April 1, 2014, based on "procedural delays that are not attributable to Ms Kostner", the Court of Arbitration for Sport said.

Kostner will go up against reigning world champion Evgenia Medvedeva, who will be aiming to use home advantage at the Rostelecom Cup at the Megasport Arena in the Russian capital.

World Championship bronze medalist Elena Radionova, also of Russia, is also likely to be in contention for the top spot on the podium.

Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan will be targeting a winning start to his campaign when he competes in the men's singles in Moscow.

Hanyu, the two-time world champion and who won the Olympic singles gold medal at Sochi 2014, headlines a strong field for the event.

The Japanese star comes into the event as the favourite after he set a short programme record score of 112.72 points at the Autumn Classic International in Montreal last month.

Four Continents champion Nathan Chen of the United States is expected to be among Hanyu's challengers, along with Olympic bronze medallist Denis Ten of Kazakhstan.

Ten is hoping to have fully recovered from a serious ankle injury to compete in Moscow. 

Mikhail Kolyada will be the main Russian hope in the singles competition.