diff --git a/apps/electron-backend/src/app/database/operations/content-search.util.sqlite.spec.ts b/apps/electron-backend/src/app/database/operations/content-search.util.sqlite.spec.ts
index 24115f65c..b732fd191 100644
--- a/apps/electron-backend/src/app/database/operations/content-search.util.sqlite.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/electron-backend/src/app/database/operations/content-search.util.sqlite.spec.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ const TITLES = [
     'Şan Ve Şeref',
     'Первый канал HD',
     'ПЕРВЫЙ КАНАЛ',
-    'Ёлки 1914',
+    'Ёжик ТВ',
     'Йога для всех',
     'Матч ТВ',
     'Ελλάδα Σήμερα',
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ describe('content-search.util against SQLite', () => {
     it.each([
         ['Первый', 'первый', ['Первый канал HD', 'ПЕРВЫЙ КАНАЛ']],
         ['ПЕРВ', 'перв', ['Первый канал HD', 'ПЕРВЫЙ КАНАЛ']],
-        ['Ёлки', 'ёлки', ['Ёлки 1914']],
+        ['Ёжик', 'ёжик', ['Ёжик ТВ']],
         ['Йога', 'йога', ['Йога для всех']],
         ['Ма', 'ма', ['Матч ТВ']],
         ['ΕΛΛ', 'ελλ', ['Ελλάδα Σήμερα']],
diff --git a/docs/architecture/tmdb-metadata-enrichment.md b/docs/architecture/tmdb-metadata-enrichment.md
index e4772b125..94f64cea8 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/tmdb-metadata-enrichment.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/tmdb-metadata-enrichment.md
@@ -537,8 +537,9 @@ identity is the query with only its case removed (`searchQueryIdentity`):
 variants are deduplicated by it and every attempted variant is cached under
 its own key (`title:<identity>|year:<y>|v4`, in the language that variant
 was searched in), never by the folded key and never only under the first
-variant — "Феик" and "Фейк" fold to one key but are different searches with
-different answers, so a verdict for one must not be read back for the other;
+variant — "Леика" and "Лейка", an illustrative pair, fold to one key while
+staying two different searches that can get different answers, so a verdict
+for one must not be read back for the other;
 a misspelled original title must not swallow the display title that TMDB
 actually knows; and two items that share an original title but not a display
 title walk different variant lists, so a row keyed on the first variant alone
@@ -547,11 +548,13 @@ splits Cyrillic "й" into "и" + a combining breve and "ё" into "е" + a
 diaeresis, and Arabic hamza forms ("أ") into a bare alef + a combining hamza
 that the punctuation step then turns into a space inside the word. The key
 drops or splits on those marks, and TMDB's `/search` does not fold them the
-same way — a query of `феик` returns zero results while `Фейк` returns the
-show. Under the old single-form design every Russian title with "й"/"ё"
-("Фейк (10 серий)", "Волшебный участок", "Молодой Шерлок") was searched
-folded, missed, and cached as missing for the 7-day negative TTL. Compare
-results only through `normalized`; never send it over the wire.
+same way, so a folded query matches nothing there. Under the old single-form
+design that hit every Russian title carrying "й" or "ё" and every Arabic
+title carrying a hamza form: each was searched folded, missed, and cached as
+missing for the 7-day negative TTL. The Cyrillic and Arabic strings used
+throughout this section are illustrative stand-ins chosen to fold the same
+way, not the titles the failures were observed on. Compare results only
+through `normalized`; never send it over the wire.
 
 Electron IPC path (follows the standard DB worker contract, see
 [SQLite DB Worker](./sqlite-db-worker.md)):
diff --git a/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stalker-series.adapters.spec.ts b/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stalker-series.adapters.spec.ts
index 3fe42a96f..88d73c2da 100644
--- a/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stalker-series.adapters.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/portal/stalker/data-access/src/lib/stalker-series.adapters.spec.ts
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ describe('stalker-series.adapters', () => {
         'The Gentlemen season2',
         'The Gentlemen (s02)',
         'The Gentlemen (season 2)',
-        'Олдскул (2 сезон)',
-        'Олдскул (сезон 2)',
-        'Олдскул s02',
-        'Олдскул season2',
+        'Пример (2 сезон)',
+        'Пример (сезон 2)',
+        'Пример s02',
+        'Пример season2',
     ])(
         'uses the title season for lazy VOD %s without changing tracking IDs',
         (title) => {
diff --git a/libs/services/src/lib/tmdb/tmdb-id-resolver.service.spec.ts b/libs/services/src/lib/tmdb/tmdb-id-resolver.service.spec.ts
index 6b8908004..fec3034e9 100644
--- a/libs/services/src/lib/tmdb/tmdb-id-resolver.service.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/services/src/lib/tmdb/tmdb-id-resolver.service.spec.ts
@@ -9,20 +9,21 @@ import { TmdbSearchResult } from './tmdb.types';
  * Regression coverage for the search wire format. The comparison key folds
  * diacritics — Cyrillic "й" becomes "и" — and that key used to be sent as
  * the TMDB query, which matched nothing for any title carrying "й"/"ё" and
- * cached the miss for a week ("Фейк (10 серий)", "Волшебный участок").
+ * cached the miss for a week. The titles below are illustrative stand-ins
+ * that fold the same way, not the ones the failures were observed on.
  */
 describe('TmdbIdResolverService.resolveBySearch', () => {
-    const fake2026: TmdbSearchResult = {
-        id: 317869,
-        name: 'Фейк',
-        original_name: 'Фейк',
+    const series2026: TmdbSearchResult = {
+        id: 101101,
+        name: 'Лейка',
+        original_name: 'Лейка',
         first_air_date: '2026-07-16',
         vote_count: 3,
     };
-    const fake2024: TmdbSearchResult = {
-        id: 322696,
-        name: 'Фейк',
-        original_name: 'Фейк',
+    const series2024: TmdbSearchResult = {
+        id: 101102,
+        name: 'Лейка',
+        original_name: 'Лейка',
         first_air_date: '2024-12-05',
         vote_count: 0,
     };
@@ -67,7 +68,7 @@ describe('TmdbIdResolverService.resolveBySearch', () => {
     beforeEach(() => {
         searchTv = jest.fn(async (query: string) =>
             // TMDB does not fold Cyrillic: only the provider spelling hits
-            query === 'Фейк' ? [fake2026, fake2024] : []
+            query === 'Лейка' ? [series2026, series2024] : []
         );
         searchMovie = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue([]);
         cacheGet = jest.fn().mockResolvedValue(null);
@@ -78,18 +79,18 @@ describe('TmdbIdResolverService.resolveBySearch', () => {
         const service = createService();
 
         const id = await service.resolveBySearch('tv', {
-            title: 'Фейк (10 серий)',
+            title: 'Лейка (10 серий)',
             year: 2026,
         });
 
-        expect(id).toBe(317869);
+        expect(id).toBe(101101);
         expect(searchTv).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-        expect(searchTv).toHaveBeenCalledWith('Фейк', null, 'ru-RU', 'key');
+        expect(searchTv).toHaveBeenCalledWith('Лейка', null, 'ru-RU', 'key');
         expect(cacheSet).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
             mediaType: 'tv',
-            lookupKey: 'title:фейк|year:2026|v4',
+            lookupKey: 'title:лейка|year:2026|v4',
             language: 'ru-RU',
-            tmdbId: 317869,
+            tmdbId: 101101,
             payload: null,
         });
     });
@@ -99,41 +100,41 @@ describe('TmdbIdResolverService.resolveBySearch', () => {
         const service = createService();
 
         const id = await service.resolveBySearch('tv', {
-            title: 'Молодой Шерлок',
+            title: 'Пробный Выпуск',
             year: 2026,
         });
 
         expect(id).toBeNull();
         expect(searchTv).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-            'Молодой Шерлок',
+            'Пробный Выпуск',
             null,
             'ru-RU',
             'key'
         );
         expect(cacheSet).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
             expect.objectContaining({
-                lookupKey: 'title:молодой шерлок|year:2026|v4',
+                lookupKey: 'title:пробный выпуск|year:2026|v4',
                 tmdbId: null,
             })
         );
     });
 
     it('reads the cache before searching', async () => {
-        cacheGet.mockResolvedValue({ tmdbId: 317869 });
+        cacheGet.mockResolvedValue({ tmdbId: 101101 });
         const service = createService();
         const cacheService = (service as unknown as { cache: TmdbCacheService })
             .cache;
         jest.spyOn(cacheService, 'isFresh').mockReturnValue(true);
 
         const id = await service.resolveBySearch('tv', {
-            title: 'Фейк (10 серий)',
+            title: 'Лейка (10 серий)',
             year: 2026,
         });
 
-        expect(id).toBe(317869);
+        expect(id).toBe(101101);
         expect(cacheGet).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
             'tv',
-            'title:фейк|year:2026|v4',
+            'title:лейка|year:2026|v4',
             'ru-RU'
         );
         expect(searchTv).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
@@ -143,31 +144,31 @@ describe('TmdbIdResolverService.resolveBySearch', () => {
         const service = createService();
 
         const id = await service.resolveBySearch('tv', {
-            title: 'Фейк',
-            originalTitle: 'Феик',
+            title: 'Лейка',
+            originalTitle: 'Леика',
             year: 2026,
         });
 
-        expect(id).toBe(317869);
+        expect(id).toBe(101101);
         expect(searchTv.mock.calls.map(([query]) => query)).toEqual([
-            'Феик',
-            'Фейк',
+            'Леика',
+            'Лейка',
         ]);
         // Each attempted variant records its own verdict
         expect(
             cacheSet.mock.calls.map(([row]) => [row.lookupKey, row.tmdbId])
         ).toEqual([
-            ['title:феик|year:2026|v4', null],
-            ['title:фейк|year:2026|v4', 317869],
+            ['title:леика|year:2026|v4', null],
+            ['title:лейка|year:2026|v4', 101101],
         ]);
     });
 
     it("does not let one variant's cached verdict answer for another", async () => {
-        // Item A (original "Феик", display "Феик") cached a miss under
-        // "феик". Item B shares the original title but displays "Фейк":
+        // Item A (original "Леика", display "Леика") cached a miss under
+        // "леика". Item B shares the original title but displays "Лейка":
         // the cached miss must not suppress B's own second variant.
         cacheGet.mockImplementation(async (_type: string, key: string) =>
-            key === 'title:феик|year:2026|v4' ? { tmdbId: null } : null
+            key === 'title:леика|year:2026|v4' ? { tmdbId: null } : null
         );
         const service = createService();
         const cacheService = (service as unknown as { cache: TmdbCacheService })
@@ -177,17 +178,17 @@ describe('TmdbIdResolverService.resolveBySearch', () => {
         );
 
         const id = await service.resolveBySearch('tv', {
-            title: 'Фейк',
-            originalTitle: 'Феик',
+            title: 'Лейка',
+            originalTitle: 'Леика',
             year: 2026,
         });
 
-        expect(id).toBe(317869);
+        expect(id).toBe(101101);
         expect(searchTv).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-        expect(searchTv).toHaveBeenCalledWith('Фейк', null, 'ru-RU', 'key');
+        expect(searchTv).toHaveBeenCalledWith('Лейка', null, 'ru-RU', 'key');
         expect(cacheGet.mock.calls.map(([, key]) => key)).toEqual([
-            'title:феик|year:2026|v4',
-            'title:фейк|year:2026|v4',
+            'title:леика|year:2026|v4',
+            'title:лейка|year:2026|v4',
         ]);
     });
 
diff --git a/libs/services/src/lib/tmdb/tmdb-matcher.spec.ts b/libs/services/src/lib/tmdb/tmdb-matcher.spec.ts
index d70d232bd..7a1ac086f 100644
--- a/libs/services/src/lib/tmdb/tmdb-matcher.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/services/src/lib/tmdb/tmdb-matcher.spec.ts
@@ -88,14 +88,14 @@ describe('lookup keys', () => {
     });
 
     it('keys search rows by the wire spelling, not the folded key', () => {
-        // "Феик" and "Фейк" fold to one comparison key but are different
+        // "Леика" and "Лейка" fold to one comparison key but are different
         // searches with different answers; a verdict cached for one must
         // never be read back for the other.
-        expect(buildSearchLookupKey('Фейк', 2026)).toBe(
-            'title:фейк|year:2026|v4'
+        expect(buildSearchLookupKey('Лейка', 2026)).toBe(
+            'title:лейка|year:2026|v4'
         );
-        expect(buildSearchLookupKey('Феик', 2026)).not.toBe(
-            buildSearchLookupKey('Фейк', 2026)
+        expect(buildSearchLookupKey('Леика', 2026)).not.toBe(
+            buildSearchLookupKey('Лейка', 2026)
         );
         expect(buildSearchLookupKey('THE BOYS', 2019)).toBe(
             buildSearchLookupKey('The Boys', 2019)
@@ -139,8 +139,8 @@ describe('buildSearchTitleVariants', () => {
 
     it('sends the provider spelling to the search but compares on the folded key', () => {
         // The folded key rewrites "й" as "и"; TMDB finds nothing for it.
-        expect(buildSearchTitleVariants('Фейк (10 серий)', null)).toEqual([
-            { query: 'Фейк', normalized: 'феик' },
+        expect(buildSearchTitleVariants('Лейка (10 серий)', null)).toEqual([
+            { query: 'Лейка', normalized: 'леика' },
         ]);
         // Arabic hamza forms fold into a space inside the word
         expect(buildSearchTitleVariants('إيمان', null)).toEqual([
@@ -160,12 +160,12 @@ describe('buildSearchTitleVariants', () => {
     });
 
     it('keeps spellings that fold to one key but differ on the wire', () => {
-        // A misspelled original title must not swallow the display title:
-        // TMDB knows "Фейк" and not "Феик", and only the second variant
-        // would find it.
-        expect(buildSearchTitleVariants('Фейк', 'Феик')).toEqual([
-            { query: 'Феик', normalized: 'феик' },
-            { query: 'Фейк', normalized: 'феик' },
+        // A misspelled original title must not swallow the display title.
+        // Take a pair where only the display spelling is the one TMDB
+        // indexes: only the second variant can find it.
+        expect(buildSearchTitleVariants('Лейка', 'Леика')).toEqual([
+            { query: 'Леика', normalized: 'леика' },
+            { query: 'Лейка', normalized: 'леика' },
         ]);
         expect(buildSearchTitleVariants('Amelie', 'Amélie')).toEqual([
             { query: 'Amélie', normalized: 'amelie' },
diff --git a/libs/services/src/lib/tmdb/tmdb-matcher.ts b/libs/services/src/lib/tmdb/tmdb-matcher.ts
index e21fb0cee..6c966bb5b 100644
--- a/libs/services/src/lib/tmdb/tmdb-matcher.ts
+++ b/libs/services/src/lib/tmdb/tmdb-matcher.ts
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ function stripLeadingLanguageToken(raw: string): string | null {
 /**
  * One search candidate: what to SEND to TMDB and what to COMPARE its
  * answers against. The two differ on purpose — see `cleanTitleForSearch`:
- * a folded query ("феик") finds nothing on TMDB while the folded key is
- * exactly what the confidence gate and the cache need.
+ * folding rewrites letters TMDB matches on, so the folded form finds nothing
+ * there, while it is exactly what the confidence gate and the cache need.
  */
 export interface SearchTitleVariant {
     /** Provider spelling with tags/brackets/season/year stripped */
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ export interface SearchTitleVariant {
 /**
  * The identity of one search on the wire: the query with only the case
  * removed, since TMDB matches case-insensitively and nothing else about
- * the spelling may be folded away — "Феик" and "Фейк" are different
+ * the spelling may be folded away — "Леика" and "Лейка" (illustrative) are
+ * different
  * searches with different answers, however alike their comparison keys.
  * Both the variant deduplication and the cache row use this, so a cached
  * verdict can never be read back for a search that was never sent.
@@ -116,11 +117,11 @@ export function buildSearchLookupKey(
     // v2: normalizeTitleKeys learned to strip appended language/quality
     // tags; the version suffix invalidates cached (incl. negative) match
     // resolutions keyed on the old polluted titles.
-    // v3: the search query stopped being the folded key ("феик" for
-    // "Фейк"), which TMDB answered with nothing; every negative row recorded
-    // under v2 for a title with "й"/"ё" is that bug, not a missing title, and
-    // must not block the retry for its 7-day TTL. Rows are keyed by the
-    // query since then.
+    // v3: the search query stopped being the folded key — the fold rewrites
+    // "й" as "и" ("леика" for "Лейка", to illustrate) and TMDB answers that
+    // spelling with nothing; every negative row recorded under v2 for a title
+    // with "й"/"ё" is that bug, not a missing title, and must not block the
+    // retry for its 7-day TTL. Rows are keyed by the query since then.
     // v4: year evidence is tiered (see `yearEvidenceTier`), so every v3 row
     // resolved by popularity across tiers may name the wrong show — and a
     // positive row stays fresh for 30 days.
diff --git a/libs/shared/database/src/lib/connection.ts b/libs/shared/database/src/lib/connection.ts
index 543f92296..efc7a43f7 100644
--- a/libs/shared/database/src/lib/connection.ts
+++ b/libs/shared/database/src/lib/connection.ts
@@ -976,9 +976,9 @@ function widenTmdbMetadataMediaTypeCheck(sqliteDb: Database.Database): void {
  * - unversioned → v2: title normalization learned to strip appended
  *   language/quality tags.
  * - v2 → v3: the search query stopped being the folded comparison key. Under
- *   v2 every title with a Cyrillic "й"/"ё" was searched folded ("феик" for
- *   "Фейк", "елки" for "Ёлки"), got no answer, and was cached as missing for
- *   7 days.
+ *   v2 every title with a Cyrillic "й"/"ё" was searched folded — the fold
+ *   spells them "и" and "е", as in the illustrative "леика" for "Лейка" —
+ *   got no answer, and was cached as missing for 7 days.
  * - v3 → v4: year evidence became tiered. Under v3 a series admitted only by
  *   the "premiered earlier" tolerance competed with an exact-year match on
  *   popularity alone, so a new series resolved to its older, better-known
diff --git a/libs/shared/database/src/lib/tmdb-search-cache-cleanup.spec.ts b/libs/shared/database/src/lib/tmdb-search-cache-cleanup.spec.ts
index 753984808..44352764e 100644
--- a/libs/shared/database/src/lib/tmdb-search-cache-cleanup.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/shared/database/src/lib/tmdb-search-cache-cleanup.spec.ts
@@ -30,13 +30,13 @@ it('drops only retired search rows across skipped, previous, pre-person, fresh a
         const V3_MARKER = 'migration:tmdb-search-lookup-v3-cache-cleanup:v1';
         const V4_MARKER = 'migration:tmdb-search-lookup-v4-cache-cleanup:v1';
         const ROWS = [
-            ['tv', 'title:феик|year:2026', 'ru-RU', null],
-            ['tv', 'title:феик|year:2026|v2', 'ru-RU', null],
+            ['tv', 'title:леика|year:2026', 'ru-RU', null],
+            ['tv', 'title:леика|year:2026|v2', 'ru-RU', null],
             ['tv', 'title:the boys|year:2019|v2', 'en-US', 76479],
-            ['tv', 'title:фейк|year:2026|v3', 'ru-RU', 317869],
+            ['tv', 'title:лейка|year:2026|v3', 'ru-RU', 101101],
             ['tv', 'title:nightfall|year:2026|v4', 'ru-RU', 424242],
-            ['tv', 'id:317869|v2', 'ru-RU', 317869],
-            ['tv', 'id:317869|season:1', 'ru-RU', 317869],
+            ['tv', 'id:101101|v2', 'ru-RU', 101101],
+            ['tv', 'id:101101|season:1', 'ru-RU', 101101],
             ['person', 'person:287', 'en-US', 287],
             ['movie', 'badProviderId:999', 'any', null],
             ['movie', 'trending:week', 'en-US', null],
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ it('drops only retired search rows across skipped, previous, pre-person, fresh a
         hooks.runMigrations(skipped);
         const skippedAfter = snapshot(skipped);
         // Next startup: a row written meanwhile under the current key survives
-        skipped.prepare("INSERT INTO tmdb_metadata (media_type, lookup_key, language, tmdb_id) VALUES ('tv', 'title:гудовы|year:2026|v4', 'ru-RU', 318894)").run();
+        skipped.prepare("INSERT INTO tmdb_metadata (media_type, lookup_key, language, tmdb_id) VALUES ('tv', 'title:сосенка|year:2026|v4', 'ru-RU', 101103)").run();
         hooks.runMigrations(skipped);
         const repeated = snapshot(skipped);
         // Previous release: the earlier cleanups already ran; only v3 rows go
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ it('drops only retired search rows across skipped, previous, pre-person, fresh a
         const prePerson = new Database(':memory:');
         hooks.createTables(prePerson);
         prePerson.exec("DROP TABLE tmdb_metadata; CREATE TABLE tmdb_metadata (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT, media_type TEXT NOT NULL CHECK (media_type IN ('movie', 'tv')), lookup_key TEXT NOT NULL, language TEXT NOT NULL, tmdb_id INTEGER, payload TEXT, fetched_at TEXT DEFAULT (datetime('now'))); CREATE UNIQUE INDEX tmdb_metadata_lookup_unique ON tmdb_metadata(media_type, lookup_key, language)");
-        prePerson.prepare("INSERT INTO tmdb_metadata (media_type, lookup_key, language, tmdb_id) VALUES ('tv', 'title:феик|year:2026', 'ru-RU', NULL)").run();
+        prePerson.prepare("INSERT INTO tmdb_metadata (media_type, lookup_key, language, tmdb_id) VALUES ('tv', 'title:леика|year:2026', 'ru-RU', NULL)").run();
         hooks.runMigrations(prePerson);
         const prePersonAfter = { ...snapshot(prePerson), check: prePerson.prepare("SELECT sql FROM sqlite_master WHERE name = 'tmdb_metadata'").get().sql.includes("'person'") };
         hooks.runMigrations(prePerson);
@@ -109,13 +109,13 @@ it('drops only retired search rows across skipped, previous, pre-person, fresh a
     const V4_MARKER = 'migration:tmdb-search-lookup-v4-cache-cleanup:v1';
     const survivors = [
         'badProviderId:999',
-        'id:317869|season:1',
-        'id:317869|v2',
+        'id:101101|season:1',
+        'id:101101|v2',
         'person:287',
         'title:nightfall|year:2026|v4',
         'trending:week',
     ];
-    const detailsPayloads = ['{"id":317869}', '{"id":317869}'];
+    const detailsPayloads = ['{"id":101101}', '{"id":101101}'];
 
     expect(JSON.parse(result)).toEqual({
         skippedAfter: {
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ it('drops only retired search rows across skipped, previous, pre-person, fresh a
             markers: [V2_MARKER, V3_MARKER, V4_MARKER],
         },
         repeated: {
-            keys: [...survivors, 'title:гудовы|year:2026|v4'].sort(),
+            keys: [...survivors, 'title:сосенка|year:2026|v4'].sort(),
             payloads: detailsPayloads,
             markers: [V2_MARKER, V3_MARKER, V4_MARKER],
         },
@@ -132,8 +132,8 @@ it('drops only retired search rows across skipped, previous, pre-person, fresh a
             // The older generations' rows are their business, already done
             keys: [
                 ...survivors,
-                'title:феик|year:2026',
-                'title:феик|year:2026|v2',
+                'title:леика|year:2026',
+                'title:леика|year:2026|v2',
                 'title:the boys|year:2019|v2',
             ].sort(),
             payloads: detailsPayloads,
@@ -142,8 +142,8 @@ it('drops only retired search rows across skipped, previous, pre-person, fresh a
         previousRepeated: {
             keys: [
                 ...survivors,
-                'title:феик|year:2026',
-                'title:феик|year:2026|v2',
+                'title:леика|year:2026',
+                'title:леика|year:2026|v2',
                 'title:the boys|year:2019|v2',
             ].sort(),
             payloads: detailsPayloads,
diff --git a/libs/shared/interfaces/src/lib/search-text-fold.util.spec.ts b/libs/shared/interfaces/src/lib/search-text-fold.util.spec.ts
index 5a5604000..84f7c7c8e 100644
--- a/libs/shared/interfaces/src/lib/search-text-fold.util.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/shared/interfaces/src/lib/search-text-fold.util.spec.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ describe('foldSearchText', () => {
         ['Ünlü Şef', 'ünlü şef'],
         ['ÇANAKKALE', 'çanakkale'],
         ['Первый канал HD', 'первый канал hd'],
-        ['Ёлки', 'ёлки'],
+        ['Ёжик', 'ёжик'],
         ['Йога для всех', 'йога для всех'],
         ['Ελλάδα Σήμερα', 'ελλάδα σήμερα'],
         ['Amélie', 'amélie'],
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ describe('foldSearchText', () => {
     it.each([
         ['Amélie', 'Amélie'],
         ['İnşaat', 'İnşaat'],
-        ['Ёлки', 'Ёлки'],
+        ['Ёжик', 'Ёжик'],
         ['Йога', 'Йога'],
         ['Ünlü', 'Ünlü'],
         ['Ά', 'Ά'],
diff --git a/libs/shared/interfaces/src/lib/title-normalization.util.spec.ts b/libs/shared/interfaces/src/lib/title-normalization.util.spec.ts
index ee31eef2f..40a96cab0 100644
--- a/libs/shared/interfaces/src/lib/title-normalization.util.spec.ts
+++ b/libs/shared/interfaces/src/lib/title-normalization.util.spec.ts
@@ -434,22 +434,23 @@ describe('titleYearsCompatible', () => {
 describe('cleanTitleForSearch', () => {
     it('keeps Cyrillic letters that folding would rewrite', () => {
         // NFD splits "й" into "и" + a breve and "ё" into "е" + a diaeresis;
-        // the comparison key drops both marks, and TMDB answers the folded
-        // spelling with nothing (issue: "Фейк (10 серий)" never matched).
-        expect(normalizeTitle('Фейк (10 серий)')).toBe('феик');
-        expect(cleanTitleForSearch('Фейк (10 серий)')).toBe('Фейк');
-        expect(cleanTitleForSearch('Ёлки 2010')).toBe('Ёлки');
-        expect(cleanTitleForSearch('Волшебный участок s02')).toBe(
-            'Волшебный участок'
+        // the comparison key drops both marks, and TMDB answers that folded
+        // spelling with nothing. The titles here are illustrative stand-ins
+        // chosen to fold the same way.
+        expect(normalizeTitle('Лейка (10 серий)')).toBe('леика');
+        expect(cleanTitleForSearch('Лейка (10 серий)')).toBe('Лейка');
+        expect(cleanTitleForSearch('Ёжик 2010')).toBe('Ёжик');
+        expect(cleanTitleForSearch('Тестовый Сериал s02')).toBe(
+            'Тестовый Сериал'
         );
     });
 
     it('keeps Arabic hamza forms that folding splits into two words', () => {
         // "أ" decomposes into a bare alef + U+0654, which is outside the
-        // stripped mark range and so becomes a SPACE in the key. TMDB finds
-        // "أطرق بابي" and nothing for "ا طرق بابي".
-        expect(normalizeTitle('AR| أطرق بابي')).toBe('ا طرق بابي');
-        expect(cleanTitleForSearch('AR| أطرق بابي')).toBe('أطرق بابي');
+        // stripped mark range and so becomes a SPACE in the key — splitting
+        // the word in two, which is not a spelling TMDB indexes.
+        expect(normalizeTitle('AR| أمثلة تجريبية')).toBe('ا مثلة تجريبية');
+        expect(cleanTitleForSearch('AR| أمثلة تجريبية')).toBe('أمثلة تجريبية');
     });
 
     it('keeps Latin diacritics and casing', () => {
@@ -490,9 +491,9 @@ describe('cleanTitleForSearch', () => {
 
     it('normalizes to the same key as the text it was derived from', () => {
         for (const raw of [
-            'Фейк (10 серий)',
+            'Лейка (10 серий)',
             'EN - The Matrix (1999) 4K',
-            'Ёлки 2010',
+            'Ёжик 2010',
             'Amélie (2001)',
             '|FR|VO|Le dernier empereur',
         ]) {
diff --git a/libs/shared/interfaces/src/lib/title-normalization.util.ts b/libs/shared/interfaces/src/lib/title-normalization.util.ts
index 89b0b71bb..0c3759376 100644
--- a/libs/shared/interfaces/src/lib/title-normalization.util.ts
+++ b/libs/shared/interfaces/src/lib/title-normalization.util.ts
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ const SEASON_SUFFIX_PATTERN = new RegExp(
  * every comparison key and OFF for the text sent to a remote search — see
  * `cleanTitleForSearch`. Folding is lossy for scripts whose "diacritics" are
  * distinct letters: NFD turns Cyrillic "й" into "и" + a combining breve, and
- * dropping the breve rewrites "Фейк" as "феик", "ё" as "е". Two provider
+ * dropping the breve rewrites "Лейка" as "леика", "ё" as "е". Two provider
  * copies of a title still meet on that key, which is all a comparison needs,
  * but TMDB's search does not fold Cyrillic the same way and answers a folded
  * query with nothing at all.
@@ -520,7 +520,8 @@ export function normalizeTitleKeys(
  *
  * Comparison keys must fold so two spellings of one film meet; a search
  * query must not, because the search engine folds by its own rules and a
- * pre-folded Cyrillic query ("феик" for "Фейк") matches nothing there.
+ * pre-folded Cyrillic query matches nothing there ("леика" for "Лейка"
+ * illustrates the rewrite).
  * Compare the results with `normalizeTitle`, never with this.
  */
 export function cleanTitleForSearch(raw: string | null | undefined): string {