Artem Klimenko

Artem Klimenko was born in Mariupol and played in Ukraine for the youth team of Azovmash until the age of 15. After rumors of possible bankruptcy of the club emerged, he moved to Russia and joined the system of Saratov's Avtodor. Together with the team, he won the Superleague and entered the VTB United League, attracting attention, including from NBA scouts.

However, in 2014, Klimenko went undrafted and continued playing for the Saratov team. In the 2016/17 season, Artem went on loan to UNICS Kazan, and in 2018, he became a full-fledged member of the team from the capital of Tatarstan. He spent four more years there until he moved to St. Petersburg in the summer of 2022.

In two seasons he helped the blue-whites to win twice the VTB United League Supercup and the Kondrashin and Belov Cup, become the VTB League bronze medals winners, and also to win the Russian Cup for the first time in Club's history.