Rotor Volgograd have signed three players from FC Astana in Kazakhstan on free transfers. Midfielder Ivan Maevskiy, forward Aleksey Shchetkin and defender Dmitry Shomko have all joined the club ahead of the winter training camp in Turkey.

Maevskiy returns to the Russian Premier Liga after representing Anzhi Makhachkala between 2015 and 2017. The Belarus international played 96 times for Astana, scoring six goals and winning three Kazakh championships.

Kazakh international striker Shchetkin leaves his homeland for the first time in his professional career after scoring 54 goals in over 200 domestic league games. His fellow countryman, Dmitry Shomko, brings even greater experience, after winning six straight titles, five Kazakh Super Cups and one Kazakh Cup.

All three are exempt from the foreigner limit that came into force last summer.