16/10/2025
From 6 to 9 October, Warsaw hosted the European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC), the largest continental cybersecurity competition bringing together young specialists from across Europe. This year, more than 400 participants from 39 countries took part, and for the first time, the Ukrainian National Cybersecurity Team also participated.
Through the European EU4Digital project, FIAP has supported Ukraine’s participation in the European Cybersecurity Challenge, an initiative of the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) that aims to promote cybersecurity talent across Europe and connect high-potential individuals with leading organisations in the sector. In this year’s competition, Ukraine finished in 31st place. First place went to Italy, second to Denmark and third to Germany.
‘It is a great honour for us to represent Ukraine at such a high level. Because this is, in fact, the eleventh annual edition of the competition. We feel that we have become part of the European cybersecurity community. The experience we have gained is priceless,’ says Ukrainian team captain Pavlo Lovyhin.
Furthermore, this event has been an opportunity to hold international educational and training meetings, which has allowed us not only to compete with leading European specialists, but also to see from the inside how similar championships are organised, both technically and organisationally.
‘We see this participation primarily as a great learning opportunity. They have seen how tournaments work at the European level, met teams from other countries and learned about their training methods. This experience will help us develop our own initiatives and prepare Ukrainian competitions in line with international standards,’ said Vitaly Lavrov, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.
The competition was held in Capture the Flag (CTF) format, in which participants solved tasks related to web security, cryptography, computer forensics, reverse engineering, network analysis and applied security. Each phase required cohesion, resilience and creative thinking on the part of the teams.
In the words of Kyrylo Tkachov, head coach of Ukraine’s National Cyber Competition Team, the teamwork has been of a very high standard:
“We can now see the direction we need to take. We will improve our strategies and tactics so that each subsequent performance by the Ukrainian national team in international tournaments is stronger. It is meticulous work, but it is with these steps that the path to future victories begins.”
The presence of the Ukrainian cyber team at the European Cybersecurity Challenge is an important step in Ukraine’s integration into the European cybersecurity community. Despite the challenges posed by the war, Ukrainian youth demonstrate a high level of expertise, a desire to learn, and a willingness to embrace international experience.
“Not only did we participate in the tournament, but we also laid the groundwork for future international cooperation in the field of technological sports and cybersecurity. Ukraine has the potential not only to compete, but also to host similar championships in its own country,” said Yevhen Vladimirov, head of the Ukrainian National Cyber Competition Committee.
During the competition, a meeting of representatives of national teams and organisers was held in Warsaw, at which Ukraine submitted its bid to host the European Cybersecurity Challenge 2026.
The National Cybersecurity Team participated in this competition with the support of the Ukrainian Technological Sports Federation, the Ukrainian Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ukrainian State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection, and the National Cybersecurity Coordination Centre of the National Security Council of Ukraine.
This has been made possible thanks to the support of the EU4DigitalUA project, funded by the European Union and led by FIAP; the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine; the Department for Counterintelligence Protection of State Interests in the Field of Information Security of the Security Service of Ukraine; and CSO ‘А’.
In addition, the team also had the support of the partners of the Ukrainian National CTF Competition in 2025: the Ukrainian Defence Industry Council, Cyber Unit Technologies, SET University, the Cyber Warfare Research Institute, Sheriff, Reiffeisen Bank, Lenovo, WhiteBit, iIT Distribution, Vyriy, DC8044, Ukraine’s largest cyber community, Sport Business Media, Scroll, and Speka.
