Born Oksana Pochepa (Russian: Оксана Почепа), Akula is a Russian pop artist and model that first began her career at the young age of 13 as a member of Maloletka (lit. Underaged. "Jailbait"). This is where she took the pseudonym Акула (Akula, meaning "Shark") which she continued to in the future once she kicked off her solo career. Oksana Pochepa was born in 1984 in Rostov-na-Donu (Ростов-на-Дону), Russia. In 2007, she appeared in a Maxim magazine photo shoot.