Valeriy Tsarukyan

Valeriy Tsarukyan came up through Dynamo Stavropol, joining the club's youth setup at the age of five and passing through the DYuSS Kozhany Mech academy, known locally as the Roman Pavlyuchenko School. A spell at the Krasnodar academy was cut short when he returned to Stavropol for health reasons, including asthma, before he made his professional debut for Dynamo Stavropol in the Second League in 2019.

His father, left disabled by an accident when Valeriy was two years old, drove him to training throughout his youth career.

A move to Fakel Voronezh in January 2021 proved decisive: he helped the club to a silver medal in the First Division in the 2021/22 season. Alania Vladikavkaz bought his rights from Fakel in July 2023 for 18 million roubles, and in January 2024 he moved on again, this time to Pari NN in Nizhny Novgorod for around 20 million roubles.

At Pari NN he established himself as one of the team's leaders through the 2024/25 season, scoring three goals and adding an assist in the Russian Premier League. In February 2026 he went out on loan to Akhmat Grozny for the remainder of that season, with an option to buy set at 20 million roubles, though he did not feature in an official match for the club and returned to Nizhny Novgorod in June 2026.

Tsarukyan holds dual Russian and Armenian citizenship and has said he would be interested in representing Armenia at international level, though he has not yet won a senior cap for either country. Away from football, he plays the piano and Russian billiards.