The Minsk Courier
Market10 Aug 2026
Minsk say no — this time
The offer from Dinamo Minsk for Ilya Dubinets was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The paperwork begins on Daniil Veselov
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Minsk have done the hard part with Lokomotiv Moscow, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
Minsk to lose Ilya Dubinets for free
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ilya Dubinets has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Minsk
Daouda Natama and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Egor Zubovich falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match8 Aug 2026
Minsk come up short against Smorgon
Smorgon left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market10 Aug 2026
Eduard Balanovich steps up from the Minsk academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Eduard Balanovich has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
One of our own: Maksim Martynovich joins the Minsk first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Maksim Martynovich is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
Minsk promote Yauhen Volodko from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Yauhen Volodko has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
In brief
- The dugout Alexandr Gutor gets it from the manager
- Player ratings Ilya Dubinets did the work nobody counts — 6.77
- Squad Vladislav Shabunya signs a new deal