Published on: 2026-07-02
Source: Government of the Russian Federation –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Dmitry Chernyshenko and Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov congratulated the Russian team on their victory at the International Cybersecurity Olympiad in Tunisia.
The national team won four medals and became the absolute champion atInternational Cybersecurity Olympiad (ICO)among high school students, which was held in Tunisia from June 27 to July 2. One of the members of the Russian team – Daniil Melekhv – also became the absolute winner of the ICO in the individual competition.
In the final, the Russian team met with more than 70 talented schoolchildren from 19 countries, including Brazil, China, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, Sweden, Tunisia, and the USA.
Schoolchildren were congratulated by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov.
“The Russian team has become the absolute champion at the International Cybersecurity Olympiad. Congratulations to the kids and we are proud of their success! It is precisely such talented youth, like our winning schoolchildren, who will shape the contours of the digital future. I thank their mentors and parents for their support. As our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin notes, countries that possess a full set of their own technologies in the fields of artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and digital platforms, will become powerful centers of sovereignty in a multipolar world. Today Russia pays special attention to the development of digital technologies, including through research centers in the field of artificial intelligence, and support of the AI Alliance. I wish the team members continued growth in their chosen direction, successfully solving even complex problems and helping the country – you are on the right path!” – said the Deputy Prime Minister.
“Congratulations to the Russian team on their brilliant victory at the International Cybersecurity Olympiad in Tunisia! You not only won gold medals and the title of absolute champion, but also demonstrated to the whole world the highest level of training of Russian schoolchildren. Today, the development of competencies in information security is becoming a strategically important direction for our country. As President of Russia Vladimir Putin has repeatedly emphasized, threats in cyberspace are among the main challenges of our time. Your achievements directly address the tasks of developing technologies that protect Russia’s digital infrastructure. You are already forming a personnel reserve of specialists today who will defend against external threats tomorrow. We are proud of you!” ‒ noted Sergey Kravtsov.
The final of the International Cybersecurity Olympiad consisted of two rounds, each lasting seven hours. Each round included three comprehensive tasks, each divided into four thematic subtasks: from web security to vulnerability hunting in game code.
Within each category, participants worked on both basic exercises and high-tech tasks that closely resembled real cyber threats. A maximum of 100 points could be earned for correctly solving all the tasks.
The final of the world olympiad was strictly regulated and excluded the use of third-party neural networks and messengers. Participants were given limited access to a local model of ChatGPT-5.5-mini with restricted resources to complete the stages.
Medals at the International Cybersecurity Olympiad were awarded to winners and prize-winners of the All-Russian Olympiad in Information Security and other prestigious Russian and international Olympiads and competitions in the field of information security.
Gold medalists in the individual competition:
● Daniil Melekhov is an 11th-grade student at OANO “School of the Center for Pedagogical Excellence,” Moscow. In addition to the gold medal at the International Cybersecurity Olympiad, Daniil won the title of absolute ICO champion;
● Nikolay Belousov is an 11th-grade student at State Budgetary Educational Institution “School No. 2031,” Moscow.
Winner of the silver medal in the individual event:
● Artem Rumyantsev is an 11th-grade student at the State Budget Educational Institution ‘Lyceum “Second School” named after V.F. Ovchinnikov’, Moscow.
Bronze medalist in the individual competition:
● Roman Cheremnykh is a 10th-grade student at the ANOO “International School of Kazan,” Kazan.
The team composition for participation in the ICO was determined through a multi-stage selection process that began with the acceptance of applications from September 2025 to January 2026. During the remote qualifying stage, more than 700 students solved practical problems. Based on its results, the 56 best were invited to the in-person final, which consisted of three rounds.
In the first and second rounds, participants without internet access individually solved cybersecurity tasks and investigated computer incidents. In the third round, the finalists formed random teams to compete in defending their own systems and attacking others’, where their stress resistance and teamwork skills were evaluated. Based on the total results of all stages, the four strongest participants were selected to join the Russian national team.
The team preparation took place in several stages at the Central University. All tasks were developed by the university experts and implied an individual approach to each team member. At the start, technical interviews were conducted to create personalized training plans considering the strengths and weaknesses of each student.
At the end of May, an interim assessment was held to evaluate progress and adjust training directions. The training program covered official ICO topics and potentially important related areas.
Participants were trained by leading cybersecurity specialists from the Central University and Kaspersky Lab, who prepared the winners of the International Cybersecurity Olympiad in 2025, held in Singapore:
● Maksim Smirnov is the head coach of the Russian national team at the first International Cybersecurity Olympiad (ICO), a member of the ICO International Scientific Committee, leader of the CTF club at the Central University, and technical director of the Russian CTF Cup;
● Andrey Gunkin – senior viral analyst at the targeted attack research group of Kaspersky Lab;
● Aleksey Rodionov – CTF competition coach at the Central University, coach of the WorldSkills Moscow team in cybersecurity and blockchain 2018–2021, WorldSkills World Champion 2019, organizer of nationwide events and Olympiads in information security;
● Maksim Nikitin – gold medalist of the International Cybersecurity Olympiad, winner of all-Russian information security olympiads, instructor at “T-Education” and the Center for Pedagogical Excellence;
● Egor Zakharov – founder of the educational platform, winner of CTF competitions, organizer of all-Russian information security competitions;
● Ivan Dudnik – information security instructor at the Samara International Aerospace Lyceum, CTF competition winner, organizer of all-Russian information security competitions;
● Andrey Bakov is an information security specialist at T-Bank, a student of the Central University, and a multiple-time winner and organizer of CTF competitions;
● Mikhail Selin – bronze medalist of the International Cybersecurity Olympiad, student of the Central University, winner of the All-Russian Olympiad in Information Security, instructor at the Center for Pedagogical Excellence, organizer of CTF competitions;
● Tagir Eminov is the coach of the Russian national team at the first International Cybersecurity Olympiad, a student at the Central University, a multiple winner of CTF competitions, and a teacher at “T-Education,” the Moscow School of Programmers, and the “Second School” lyceum.
“We are proud of the Russian national team, which won absolute gold at the International Cybersecurity Olympiad. Four Russian schoolchildren demonstrated the highest level of training, surpassing competitors from 20 countries worldwide. This is a reward for the hard work of the participants themselves and a result of the joint efforts of experts from the Central University and Kaspersky Lab in preparing the students. For the Central University, this is already the fourth success on the world stage. After victories at international Olympiads in artificial intelligence, we have secured our status as leaders in yet another advanced technological discipline—information security. Today’s event is significant for the entire country because cybersecurity today is the foundation of the state’s technological sovereignty. The success of our talented students proves that the domestic education system is capable of preparing highly qualified personnel who will be able to shape Russia’s digital future,” said the rector of the Central University, Evgeny Ivashkevich.
“The victories of the Russian team are the result of enormous work by the participants themselves, their mentors, and the entire domestic educational system, which is currently being formed around information security in our country. A distinctive feature of this year’s olympiad was that participants only had access to a local neural network, while the use of external AI services was restricted. This once again shows that even in the era of artificial intelligence, the key factors for success remain fundamental knowledge, flexible thinking, and the ability to independently solve complex problems. It is a great pride for us to see that our team is among the strongest in the world for the second year in a row, confirming the high level of the Russian education system and cybersecurity school,” emphasized Anton Ivanov, Technical Director of Kaspersky Lab.
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