The Shakhter Donetsk Courier
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
What a way to start for Timur Tolstoy — 7.34
1 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.34 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Shakhter Donetsk rebuffed over Vadim Tskhadiashvili
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Stavropol have kept their man, and Shakhter Donetsk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
The crowd has taken to Timur Tolstoy
At 16 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Timur Tolstoy steps up from the Shakhter Donetsk academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Timur Tolstoy 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
Shakhter Donetsk promote Yuriy Zotkin from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Yuriy Zotkin 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
One of our own: Rodion Lysenko joins the Shakhter Donetsk first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Rodion Lysenko 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
Andrei Vasilyev steps up from the Shakhter Donetsk academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andrei Vasilyev 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Timur Tolstoy the difference as Shakhter Donetsk beat Kyzyltash
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Timur Tolstoy. 1‑0 against Kyzyltash, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
A loan move for Stepan Glebov is in the works
Shakhter Donetsk have made the call to Luki-Energiya. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
- Transfer targets Shakhter Donetsk ask about Maxim Kovzikov
- Transfer targets Shakhter Donetsk ask about Artem Maifet
- The dugout Dmitriy Mitin: “That is the standard”