Marked for Vladislav Stepanenko
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Kirill Zabelin out for 18 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dnepr Mogilev will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Egor Karpitskiy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
112% of the income goes out in wages at Dnepr Mogilev
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Egor Karpitskiy is on it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Kirill Zabelin knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kirill Zabelin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market25 Jan 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dnepr Mogilev know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Dnepr Mogilev. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad23 Nov 2026
Sergey Rusak breaks a bone — 73 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dnepr Mogilev may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market23 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dnepr Mogilev is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Egor Karpitskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladislav Dybin, and the manager let it.
Loan watch23 Nov 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Dnepr Mogilev, and 2 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Sergey Rusak out for 102 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dnepr Mogilev will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom26 Oct 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Alexey Yazepov 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.
Market26 Oct 2026
Only the photograph left for Alexey Yazepov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexey Yazepov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dnepr Mogilev the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Dmitriy Guschenko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladislav Dybin, and the manager let it.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Niva to sit and watch. I want to come back to Dnepr Mogilev and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Andrey Potapenko 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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Andrey Potapenko has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Dnepr Mogilev will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Niva they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikhail Gordeychuk is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Niva. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market19 Oct 2026
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Niva money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Niva they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Niva may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikhail Gordeychuk is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Anton Kislyak 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market12 Oct 2026
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Niva could get for him.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Niva. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Sep 2026
Sergey Rusak breaks a bone — 130 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 130 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Egor Karpitskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Dnepr Mogilev, and 2 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Muzaffar Gurbanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Kirill Tsepenkov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Niva
1‑3 against Gomel, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market17 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Niva have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Vladislav Stepanenko did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Alexandr Chizh pops up at the right end — 7.74
7.74, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Niva
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Niva are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mikhail Gordeychuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market10 Aug 2026
Baranovichi come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Niva did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Dnepr Mogilev, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
Igor Monich has agreed to leave Niva for nothing
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Market10 Aug 2026
The shirt still fits. Ruslan Belov is back at Niva, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Neman wanted more than $170.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mikhail Gordeychuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotiv Gomel have kept their man, and Niva go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dmitriy Sibilev and Niva agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Mikhail Gordeychuk 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.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match1 Aug 2026
A point taken on 97 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad3 Aug 2026
9 new faces, and Niva are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Match1 Aug 2026
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Volna Pinsk have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.