Ruslan Stepanyuk, a 33-year-old Ukrainian forward who recently became a free agent after leaving Veres, received a more financially lucrative contract offer from LNZ Cherkasy. However, he chose to decline this offer in favor of signing with Zorya Luhansk, accepting a contract that paid half of what LNZ proposed. Stepanyuk reportedly prioritized the sporting challenge offered by Zorya over the financial incentives. He had been on the verge of joining Oleksandriya earlier, but those negotiations ultimately did not lead to a contract. In the previous season, Stepanyuk appeared in 28 matches for Veres in the Ukrainian Premier League, scoring 4 goals, and also played in 3 Ukrainian Cup matches, where he scored 2 goals.