Baltika Kaliningrad officially signed defender Aleksandr Zhirov on one-year contract with option to extend it for one more year.

32-year-old player will come back to Russia after five seasons with Sandhausen in German 2. Bundesliga. Zhirov became team captain, played 146 matches in the league, and scored seven goals. In 2022/23 season Sandhausen earned relegation to Third Liga.

Zhirov has played two seasons in RPL with Anzhi Makhachakala (2015–2016, 2017) and Tom Tomsk (2016). He also was a player of Krasnodar, but never appeared for first team. Defender played 56 matches in RPL and scored only goal against Spartak in 2015.