Sergei Zhukov has been appointed head coach of Russian First League football club SKA-Khabarovsk, the team announced on the website of Match TV.
The 59-year-old specialist replaces Mikhail Semenov, whose contract was terminated on Monday following a difficult opening stretch to the league season.
SKA-Khabarovsk has suffered seven defeats in eight matches in the First League so far this season. The team sits in last place, 18th in the standings table, with just three points.
Based in Khabarovsk, a major city in the Russian Far East near the border with China, SKA-Khabarovsk competes in the second tier of Russian professional football immediately below the top-flight Russian Premier League. Long travel distances across time zones represent a unique feature of domestic fixtures for teams in the Russian league system.
Management transition and team connections
Before taking charge of SKA-Khabarovsk, Zhukov led the youth team of Moscow Torpedo from June 2025. He also served as interim head coach of Torpedo's senior squad in September of last year.
Moscow Torpedo is one of the historic football clubs based in the Russian capital. Zhukov's work with their youth academy and brief period leading the senior side provided recent coaching experience prior to his appointment in Khabarovsk.
The new head coach shares a long-standing connection with SKA-Khabarovsk general director Alexei Kandalintsev. The two men know each other from playing together for Tom in the early 2000s.
Tom, based in the Siberian city of Tomsk, was a notable regional club where both Zhukov and Kandalintsev featured as teammates during their playing careers before transitioning into executive and coaching positions in Russian football.
Managerial career across Russian divisions
Zhukov brings extensive managerial experience in Russian football to his new role. He has previously served as head coach at Saturn, Tom, and Volga Ulyanovsk.
His past managerial roles include leading Saturn, based in the Moscow region, along with Volga Ulyanovsk from the Volga region and Siberian club Tom. Across these stints, Zhukov managed squads competing across various tiers of the Russian league structure.
Zhukov now faces the challenge of turning around SKA-Khabarovsk's form as the club attempts to climb out of 18th place and secure its position in the First League.
