Alexander Kokotun

Alexander Kokotun's path to professional football began far from any academy pitch. In October 2021, while still developing at a sports school in Novosibirsk under coach Felix Bondarenko, he travelled to Moscow for the 'MyTryOut' scouting event. There, a Rostov scout invited him to a trial in Rostov-on-Don, and after a week on the pitch, the club signed him into its academy.

Kokotun spent the following seasons working through Rostov's youth system, turning out for Rostov-M in the Youth Championship across the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 campaigns. His breakthrough came in 2026, when he made his first appearances for Rostov-2, the club's reserve side, in the Second League. He was one of a dozen players to debut for that team in the first half of the season, playing alongside Vladislav Khukhrovsky, with whom he had also signed his first professional contract.

That stint at reserve level proved brief. In July 2026, Rostov announced Kokotun's departure as a free agent, and he moved on to continue his career at KAMAZ in the First League. He wears the number 11 shirt there — a detail worth noting only because some databases briefly listed him under a different number before match reports and club sources settled the matter.