Kyiv Polytechnic condemns decision to admit russian delegation to International Cybersecurity Olympiad of AI in Sydney
Ukrainian school students under the age of 18 from Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Mariupol and the Poltava region participated in the International Cybersecurity Olympiad of AI in Sydney. They know war not from textbooks, but from daily russian missile and drone attacks, and the wail of air raid sirens.
Before the competition commenced, the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia, urged the organisers to bar the official russian delegation. Their formal requests were ignored, whereas the competition laser focused on strategically important areas of cybersecurity and AI, particularly the use of AI to automate cyberattacks and defend networks, applying real-world techniques like prompt injection, red-teaming, and deepfake detection. This is despite the fact that Australia itself has repeatedly named russia as a malicious state cyber actor.
“It has never been a question of nationality. It has always been a question of values, responsibility and respect for human dignity,” stated Andrii Shysholin, Kyiv Polytechnic Vice-Rector for International Relations, thanking the Ambassador and the Embassy of Ukraine in Australia for the exceptional care they provided for the Ukrainian delegation in Sydney. “International education is part and parcel of these principles.”
