Russian Nobel Peace Prize Winner Will Auction Medal To Help Ukrainians

Dmitry Muratov, a co-winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, has announced he will be donating his medal to be auctioned off to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees. 

“Novaya Gazeta (the newspaper at where Muratov serves as editor-in-chief) and I have decided to donate the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize Medal to the Ukrainian Refugee Fund,” wrote Muratov. 

“There are already 10 million refugees. I ask the auction houses to respond and put up for auction this world-famous award,” he added. 

In addition to auctioning off his medal, The Moscow Times reported Muratov had already donated US$290,000 of his prize money to charities and a children’s hospice.

According to Reuters, Muratov and Novaya Gazeta have been opposed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since day one, saying the former needed to halt combat fire, return prisoners and bodies of casualties, and provide humanitarian corridors and support for refugees. 

Earlier this month, however, the newspaper was made to remove articles on its website related to the invasion, due to threats of criminal prosecution as part of the Russian government’s crackdown on information regarding the “special operation” in Ukraine. 

The paper has since resumed publishing stories in adherence to the state guidelines. 

[via The Moscow Times and Reuters, cover image via Awalin / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)]