 Pogrebnyak debuted for the Russian national team on 16 August 2006 in a friendly match against Latvia, where he scored his first goal.He was also initially called up as part of the Russian squad for UEFA Euro 2008, but because of a knee injury he picked up in a friendly match versus Serbia, he was replaced by Oleg Ivanov before Russia began the tournament.He was confirmed for the finalized UEFA Euro 2012 squad on 25 May 2012.