Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner to auction medal for Ukraine refugees

Journalist Dmitry Muratov who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, announced on Tuesday that he would auction off his medal and donate the money to Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion.

Muratov is the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, an independent newspaper in Russia, who has spoken out openly against the war despite a crackdown on media and free speech in Russia, reports The Moscow Times.

“Novaya Gazeta and I decided to donate the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize medal to a fund for Ukrainian refugees,” Muratov said. “There are already more than 10 million of them. I ask for feedback from auction houses that will auction off this world-famous award.”

Muratov announced to sell awards nearly a month after President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to invade Ukraine on February 24.

According to The Moscow Times, Conservative UN estimates say nearly 1,000 civilians have been killed, while over 1 crore people have fled the country or become internally displaced.

Muratov’s Novaya Gazeta deleted articles on Russia’s invasion after Putin signed a law criminalising ‘false information about his military’s action in Ukraine.

Novaya Gazeta resumed publication last week under conditions of wartime censorship as stipulated in the new law.