Artem Karpukas

Artem Karpukas grew up in Biysk, in Russia's Altai Region, and started out at SShOR Altai before moving to the Smertin Football School in Barnaul. In 2013 he joined the Lokomotiv Moscow academy, and he stayed with the club's system through to his senior debut, which came against Sochi in April 2022.

He went on to make 112 league appearances for Lokomotiv, scoring five goals, adding 32 cup appearances and one more goal, while also turning out for the reserve side Lokomotiv-Kazanka along the way. His breakthrough season was 2022–23: Transfermarkt named him the Russian Premier League's Best Young Player, and Lokomotiv's own supporters voted him the club's Best Player of that campaign. He finished sixth in the official coaches' and captains' vote for young player of the year, an award won by Sergei Pinyayev.

That form earned him international recognition. Karpukas had already appeared twice for Russia's under-21 side in 2022, and he made his senior national team debut in a friendly against Qatar in September 2023, going on to collect five caps.

In August 2026 he left Lokomotiv for Zenit Saint Petersburg in a deal worth around €5.2 million, signing a contract through to 2031. The move came just after Zenit had already wrapped up the 2025–26 Russian Premier League title, their eleventh, so he was not part of the squad that won it. At Zenit, he wears the number 93 shirt.