Marked for Artyom Yermakov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad19 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zarya Lugansk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Apr 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Emmanuel Okonji’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Zarya Lugansk.
The terraces19 Apr 2027
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 7.71, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
132% of the income goes out in wages at Zarya Lugansk
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 dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Gorunkov, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Artyom Yermakov 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Zarya Lugansk — 7.48
1 for Sergey Chernenko, marked 7.48, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zarya Lugansk can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Match10 Apr 2027
Artem Tarasov among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Artem Tarasov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Zarya Lugansk and Legion.
Match10 Apr 2027
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market12 Apr 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nikita Borodin 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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Emmanuel Okonji was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Boardroom12 Apr 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout12 Apr 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Maxim Guskov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad5 Apr 2027
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Zarya Lugansk lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
Match3 Apr 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Kuban Holding came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Looking ahead5 Apr 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Legion in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market5 Apr 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Sergey Chernenko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 8. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Gleb Lyubimov 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 Gleb Lyubimov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad5 Apr 2027
The suspension has been sat out and he is available again. Whoever has been playing in his place has had a fortnight to make an argument, and the manager now has to decide whether it was a good one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zarya Lugansk will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad22 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zarya Lugansk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
135% of the income goes out in wages at Zarya Lugansk
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 dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Kudryk, and the manager let it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artyom Yermakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Marked 7.23. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Maxim Guskov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Zarya Lugansk dressing room was either.
Squad22 Mar 2027
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Zarya Lugansk will feel it on Saturday.
Match20 Mar 2027
Point won or two lost for Zarya Lugansk?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Kyzyltash? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Mar 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zarya Lugansk will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zarya Lugansk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Nikita Antipov 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.
The terraces15 Mar 2027
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match13 Mar 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Maxim Kovzikov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Zarya Lugansk.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Antipov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Marked 8.16 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
17 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Zarya Lugansk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artyom Yermakov 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Oliver Gustafsson commits to Zarya Lugansk for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Nikita Antipov 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Yegor Kolesnikov 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.
Match6 Mar 2027
0‑1 to Neftyanik, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Maxim Guskov to a room that had heard them before.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Vadim Lazarev
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Vadim Lazarev has come out of that comparison in the side, and Zarya Lugansk have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Nikita Antipov 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 Nikita Antipov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad1 Mar 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zarya Lugansk will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Window shuts: 2 in, 0 out at Zarya Lugansk
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets1 Mar 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Krasnodar is saying, and nobody at Zarya Lugansk is enjoying the guessing.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Nikita Antipov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match27 Feb 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Zarya Lugansk did not have in the autumn.
Transfer targets1 Mar 2027
Zarya Lugansk asked and Chaika said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match27 Feb 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Remzi Ramazanov. 1‑0 against Shakhter Donetsk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
This is not rotation. Danil Suslov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Zarya Lugansk is pretending otherwise.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes of Remzi Ramazanov at his very best
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Zarya Lugansk.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad15 Feb 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
The deal with Torpedo Miass is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Leningradets have kept their man, and Zarya Lugansk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match13 Feb 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Nart leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Boardroom15 Feb 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout15 Feb 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
Sergey Chistov damages knee ligaments — 32 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 32 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zarya Lugansk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match16 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Zarya Lugansk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artyom Yermakov 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 dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Artyom Yermakov
“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.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zarya Lugansk told Stanislav Lebedev something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad18 Jan 2027
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Zarya Lugansk will feel it on Saturday.
Market18 Jan 2027
The Anar Panaev story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Anar Panaev signs something — a contract at Zarya Lugansk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Chistov
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zarya Lugansk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Artem Tarasov is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Oliver Gustafsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match9 Jan 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Emmanuel Okonji did the work nobody counts — 6.87
12 combined actions and 6.87. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Market11 Jan 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Aleksey Rusakov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout11 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Nikita Antipov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.19. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Maxim Guskov left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zarya Lugansk lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A brace, and Sergey Chernenko takes the afternoon — 8.26
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sergey Chernenko provided it, and the 8.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Alexandr Burykin has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match2 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sergey Chernenko. 2‑0 against Pobeda, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Market4 Jan 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Maxim Guskov could afford to be generous.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Zarya Lugansk will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 10. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Chistov
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zarya Lugansk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad28 Dec 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match26 Dec 2026
1‑2 to Dinamo Stavropol, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
156% of the income goes out in wages at Zarya Lugansk
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.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Marked 8.06 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match28 Dec 2026
Position 10, 26 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Nikita Gorunkov
“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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Maxim Guskov after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Market28 Dec 2026
The name of Nikita Antipov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zarya Lugansk say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Chistov
60 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zarya Lugansk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match19 Dec 2026
A 1‑0 win over Spartak Nalchik, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A mark of 7.79, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Maxim Guskov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 15, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Looking ahead21 Dec 2026
Dinamo Stavropol next, and one man in the Zarya Lugansk dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 12. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
67 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zarya Lugansk lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Nikita Antipov 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Market14 Dec 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Aleksei Grigoryev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Dec 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zarya Lugansk, another week without a signature from Anar Panaev.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Maxim Guskov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artyom Yermakov, and the manager let it.
Match12 Dec 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Druzhba defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Dec 2026
Sergey Chistov damages knee ligaments — 75 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 75 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Zarya Lugansk are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Nikita Antipov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Artyom Yermakov 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zarya Lugansk know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Chistov
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zarya Lugansk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Oliver Gustafsson 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 148% of everything Zarya Lugansk earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 7.45 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Zarya Lugansk had the best player on the pitch.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Zarya Lugansk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artyom Yermakov 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Looking ahead30 Nov 2026
Zarya Lugansk take on the side everybody is chasing
Rostov 2 arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yuri Milyukov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad23 Nov 2026
Sergey Chistov damages knee ligaments — 89 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 89 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.40 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Anar Panaev pops up at the right end — 7.59
7.59, 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.
Squad23 Nov 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 Zarya Lugansk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Nov 2026
Three points for Zarya Lugansk, 3‑2 the final word against Legion in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Alexandr Burykin has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑2, Maxim Guskov could afford to be generous.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The one goal every signing is asked about until it comes. It has come, and a press-conference question has been retired.
Market23 Nov 2026
The Anar Panaev story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Anar Panaev signs something — a contract at Zarya Lugansk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Oct 2026
Nikita Antipov 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over PSK Pervorechenskoe, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.12 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad26 Oct 2026
At 19 he was the best of everybody his age in the division for one weekend. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The one goal every signing is asked about until it comes. It has come, and a press-conference question has been retired.
The dugout26 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Zarya Lugansk know it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Oliver Gustafsson 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Yakov Gubin 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zarya Lugansk told Alexandr Burykin something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout12 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Artyom Yermakov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over Angusht, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Zarya Lugansk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artyom Yermakov 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Maxim Guskov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Artyom Yermakov
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Zarya Lugansk have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 11 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 7. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Sep 2026
3 matches without a goal for Zarya Lugansk
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Transfer targets21 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Amkar have kept their man, and Zarya Lugansk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Zarya Lugansk are still strangers to each other
13 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A mark of 7.27, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artyom Yermakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Half-satisfied: Maxim Guskov on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Nart will be the happier side with the point.
Market21 Sep 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Emmanuel Okonji signs something — a contract at Zarya Lugansk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
0‑3 to Astrakhan, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad14 Sep 2026
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 27 signed and 20 gone
That is the business done at Zarya Lugansk until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Aleksandr Bocharov 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vasily Lobanov 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 dugout14 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Zarya Lugansk ran out of time with Dinamo Vologda. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match8 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑6 by Sevastopol, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad10 Aug 2026
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 8 of the 18 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Match8 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Zarya Lugansk and Sevastopol, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Metallurg have kept their man, and Zarya Lugansk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Andrey Shilov 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
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Artyom Yermakov 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
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Yefrem Fedoseev 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
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Valentin Ryzhov 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
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Boardroom
Nobody left the Zarya Lugansk dressing room in a hurry
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
A first senior shirt for Andrey Shilov