Ukrainian schoolchildren ranked among the world's top three in cybersecurity and AI
Four medals for Ukraine: our school students were among the strongest esports competitors at the Olympiad in Sydney
The Ukrainian team of school students won four awards at the first International Cyber Olympiad in AI International Cyber Olympiad in AI (ICOA 2026), which took place in Sydney, Australia. According to the competition results, Ukraine took third place in the team medal standings.
The Olympiad lasted from 27 June to 2 July 2026. According to the organizers’ official data, it included 65 participants from 20 countries and regions worldwide. Ukraine was represented by four school students who passed the nationwide selection and intensive training at the base of the dcua KPI named after Ihor Sikorsky team:
- Roman Melamud;
- Oleksandr Petrenko;
- Polina Proskurnia;
- Mykyta Sukovach.
The participants represented Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, the Poltava region and Odesa. They were prepared for the international competition by the team leaders Andriy Voytsekhovskyi and Maksym Hinkul.
The best result was shown by Roman Melamud, who won a gold medal in the main standings and a silver in the special CTF4EAI Pioneer Round.
Oleksandr Petrenko received a bronze medal in the main standings, and Mykyta Sukovach also became a bronze medalist. Petrenko, in addition, was among the top participants in the Pioneer Round.
Thus, in the team table Ukraine, with one gold and two bronze medals in the main standings, finished third. Only the Central University team and the team from Macau were placed higher.
What is ICOA
International Cyber Olympiad in AI – an international competition for school students at the intersection of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Participants use AI as a tool to complete cybersecurity tasks, and also search for and investigate vulnerabilities in AI systems themselves. A separate direction, CTF4EAI, is dedicated to AI security used in robotic systems.
One of the partners of the Ukrainian team was Ajax Systems. The company contributed to financing logistics, accommodation and the students’ participation in the international tournament. Financial support for the team was also provided by Raiffeisen Bank and the Kyiv School of Economics. For Ajax Systems, supporting ICOA became one of the directions of the educational initiative Ajax Next, aimed at developing technical education and preparing future engineers and technology specialists.
The founder and chairman of the supervisory board of Ajax Systems Oleksandr Konotopskyi emphasized that participation in international olympiads gives young people the opportunity to test themselves in competition with the strongest participants in the world.
“Participation in international olympiads is very important. First, it gives motivation to study well and to be the best in Ukraine. Second, competition is the engine of development. And only in international competition can one develop into a world-class specialist. And third, it helps develop the ‘Ukraine’ brand,” Konotopskyi said.
According to him, supporting Ukrainian school students in international competitions should become one of the company’s priorities.
“We have many talented young people – let’s show their achievements to the world. So we see the development of the olympiad movement as an extremely important and priority project for us,” he added.
