Dmitry Muratov, a co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 and the editor of one of Russia’s remaining major independent newspapers, auctioned off his prize for a record $103.5 million to help children displaced by the Ukraine conflict.
All earnings from the auction, which took place in New York on Monday to coincide with World Refugee Day, will go to UNICEF’s humanitarian assistance for Ukraine’s displaced children, according to Heritage Auctions.
Muratov’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper, which has been harshly critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime, halted operations in Russia in March after receiving threats from the Kremlin for its coverage of the Ukraine conflict.
Under Putin, Russia’s supreme leader since 1999, pressure on liberal Russian media outlets has been constant, but it has increased since Moscow pushed soldiers into Ukraine on February 24. In April, Muratov was doused in red paint.
The rhetoric employed by the Kremlin to characterise the conflict with Ukraine, which Moscow refers to as a “special operation” to secure Russian security and denazify its neighbour, is closely followed by Russia’s news outlets and government organisations. It is an unjustified war crime, according to Kyiv and its Western supporters.
The auction of Muratov’s prize surpassed the previous record for any Nobel medal that has been auctioned off, according to US media reports, with the previous highest sale reportedly fetching just under $5 million.
In a statement released before the auction, Heritage Auctions noted, ‘This award is unlike any other auction offering to present.’
‘With the full backing of his Novaya Gazeta crew, Mr. Muratov is enabling us to auction his medal as an event that he thinks will positively touch the lives of millions of Ukrainian refugees.’
Muratov, who co-founded Novaya Gazeta in 1991, and Maria Ressa of the Philippines shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for ‘their efforts to defend freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and sustainable peace,’ according to the Nobel Prize committee.
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