The Social Fund of Russia and Rostelecom have announced the results of the 11th nationwide competition of retirees' personal achievements in the area of computer literacy, Thank You, Internet 2025. This year, 5,700 retirees and pre-retirement age people from 79 regions of Russia took part in it.
The jury, which included representatives from Rostelecom, the Social Fund of Russia and experts from the Russian online industry, named the top three winners in each category.
My Internet Achievement category
1st place: Lyudmila Navoychik (Moscow Region)
2nd place: Valentin Bessmertny (Irkutsk Regiion)
3rd place: Olga Laskavaya (St. Petersburg).
80 Years of Victory: Living Memory of Heroes category
1st place: Aleksandr Grisyak (Amur Region)
2nd place: Vera Lysova (Kostroma Region).
3rd place: Fidravsa Yafizova (The Republic of Tatarstan).
I Am an Internet Star category:
1st place: Kausaria Gayanova (Kemerovo).
2nd place: Ekaterina Egorova (The Republic of Karelia).
3rd place: Galina Yakovleva (Astrakhan Region).
My Public Internet Initiative category:
1st place: Vasily Pechenegin (Krasnoyarsk Region).
2nd place: Vera Isakova (Sverdlovsk Region).
3rd place: Vera Zhigalova (Kurgan Region).
The average age of contestants this year was 66, with the majority of them being women (88%). Over half of those who participated in the cyber competition (59%) learned computer literacy by attending courses, while the remaining participants used their self-taught skills.
A significant portion of the contestants reside in medium and small cities, as well as in rural areas: they account for 80% of all submitted entries. Over 83% use the Gosuslugi Portal extensively. Participation of limited mobility individual deserves a special mention: 5% of them went through remote training, supported by social workers.
The My Internet Achievement category traditionally received the most entries this year (nearly 83%). The 80 Years of Victory: Living Memory of Heroes category also drew interest, with 638 incredibly touching and humane entries.
Teachers have been participating in the competition for the second year in a row, with a special category afforded to them. Its feature is the rules it follows to determine the winners. Participants present their own method designs, to be evaluated not by experts, but by fellow teachers with practical experience in handling the competition's target audience.
Three teachers won the special category for senior computer literacy teachers Russian IT Services and Projects (Own-Developed Teaching Methods):
- Dmitry Kapustin (Orenburg).
- Irina Stakhanova (Tula Region).
- Vladimir trushinn (Krasnoyarsk Region).
The republic of Tatarstan remains the undisputed leader in the Most Engaged Region category since 2016 (14 – 18% of all participants each year). Moscow and Orenburg regions are reliably among the leaders as well. In 2025, a sharp increase in engagement was noted in Irkutsk Region, while Ulyanovsk Region has shown a steady annual growth in the number of participants since 2017.
The top 10 of the 2025 annual ranking of regional engagement in computer literacy training for seniors included:
- The Republic of Tatarstan – 1,083 entries (19.09%).
- Moscow Region – 988 entries (17.41%).
- Irkutsk Region – 479 entries (8.44%).
- Orenburg Region – 431 entries (7.6%).
- St. Petersburg – 303 entries (5.34%).
- The Republic of Crimea – 203 entries (3.58%).
- Kemerovo Region – 142 entries (2.5%).
- Krasnoyarsk Territory – 131 entries (2.31%).
- Primorye Territory – 125 entries (2.2%).
- Ryazan Region – 110 entries (1.94%).
The Thank You, Internet competition is organized by Rostelecom and the Social Fund of Russia, which also developed the Internet Alphabet program. The competition is held annually for internet users of retirement and pre-retirement age who have completed computer literacy courses. Since the inception of the Thank You, Internet competition in 2015, over 45,000 people aged 50+ have joined in, with more than 300 of them becoming winners and prize-winners.