Football · Kyiv and Zhytomyr
Maciej Kędziorek named interim Dynamo Kyiv coach after 1:3 loss to Polissia
Dynamo Kyiv sacked head coach Ihor Kostiuk on Sunday, 18 October, after a 1:3 defeat away at Polissia Zhytomyr. Assistant Maciej Kędziorek, a Pole, will lead the side on an interim basis, starting with the match against FK Kudriwka on 23 October.
- August 2025Kędziorek joins Dynamo's coaching staff as an assistant to Ołeksandr Szowkowski
- Late November 2025Ihor Kostiuk takes over as head coach
- 18 OctDynamo lose 1:3 at Polissia Zhytomyr, Kostiuk is sacked and Kędziorek is named interim coach
- 23 OctScheduled league match against FK Kudriwka under Kędziorek
A 1:3 defeat and a sacking
Dynamo Kyiv lost 1:3 away to Polissia Zhytomyr on Sunday, 18 October, in the ninth round of the Ukrainian Premier League. The hosts had been down to ten men from the fifth minute after a red card for Oleh Kudryk, but Dynamo could not turn that numerical edge into points. Soon after the final whistle the club ended the tenure of head coach Ihor Kostiuk, a decision taken by club president Ihor Surkis and announced by Dynamo on social media.
The defeat was part of a difficult start to the campaign. Dynamo have now dropped points in three of their nine league matches, one draw and two defeats including this one. The club also failed to reach the league phase of the Conference League, losing to Karabakh Agdam in the third qualifying round.
Maciej Kędziorek steps in
Maciej Kędziorek, a 46-year-old Pole, has been named interim head coach. Dynamo said he will take over the duties of head coach in the upcoming Ukrainian Premier League matches, starting with the game against FK Kudriwka on 23 October. He joined the club's coaching staff in August 2025 as an assistant to Ołeksandr Szowkowski, then worked under Kostiuk after that coach took charge in late November 2025. His earlier career includes spells as an assistant at Raków Częstochowa, Arka Gdynia and Lech Poznań.
His only previous experience as a first-team coach came at Radomiak Radom, where he led the side in 17 Ekstraklasa matches around the turn of 2023 and 2024. RMF24 reports that he holds a UEFA Pro licence.
Dynamo's season so far
Dynamo finished fourth in the previous Ukrainian season and qualified for the Europa League qualifiers by winning the Ukrainian Cup final. This season they sit third in the table, eight points behind leader Shakhtar Donetsk, which has 24 points from nine matches according to RMF24. Dynamo already traded large losses to Shakhtar in the early weeks of the season, and the Polissia defeat came as the team was struggling to keep pace at the top.
Club background
Dynamo are a 13-time Soviet champion and a 17-time Ukrainian champion. The club also won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1975 and 1986, a competition that no longer exists, according to Polsat Sport.
- Soviet league titles
- 13 titles
- Ukrainian league titles
- 17 titles
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What comes next
The appointment is interim. Kędziorek's first fixture in charge is the match against FK Kudriwka on 23 October, the next game on the Ukrainian league calendar for the side. The outcome of that match will be the first measure of how the change works for a team that has dropped points in three of its nine league games so far.