Kirill Zaika

Kirill Zaika's route to professional football began in Uspenskoe, where he started training at six or seven under coach Nikolai Moshchakov before moving into the Rostov academy. He came through Rostov-2 in the Russian Youth Championship before a loan took him to Taganrog, where he made 15 appearances and scored four goals; the move was made permanent, and over his full spell there he added another 97 appearances and four goals.

A free transfer to Khimki in 2015 brought his first team honour, as the club won the Professional Football League's "West" division in the 2015/16 season. He made 92 appearances and scored three goals there across three seasons before signing for PFC Sochi as a free agent in July 2018.

Zaika has made over 168 appearances for the club and scored six goals, and has been part of two promotion campaigns to the Russian Premier League, taking the Football National League's silver medal in 2018/19 and again in 2024/25. In between, Sochi finished as Premier League runners-up in the 2021/22 season, with Zaika part of the squad.

His form with Sochi earned him a call-up to the senior Russia national team for a training camp in March 2022, though he has not featured in an official match for the side.