Nobel Peace Prize: Russian Journalist Auctions Medal To Help Ukraine Refugees, Gets $103.5 Million

Dmitry Muratov, a Russian journalist, sells off his Nobel Peace Prize medal. The funds will benefit UNICEF's work to help children displaced by the Ukraine conflict.

Muratov, who received the gold medal in October 2021, was the editor-in-chief of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta when it was down in March during the Kremlin's crackdown on journalists and public dissent in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russian Journalist Chooses To Help Ukraine Children

Muratov came up with the notion of auctioning off his prize after announcing that he would donate the $500,000 cash prize to charity. "The donation is to give the children refugees a chance for a future," he explained, as per NBC News.

He also expressed worry in an interview about children who have been orphaned as a result of the crisis in Ukraine. The Russian journalist stressed the need of ensuring that international sanctions imposed on Russia do not impede humanitarian help, like as drugs for rare diseases and bone marrow transplants, from reaching people who need it.

"It needs to become the start of a flash mob as an example to follow so that others auction their expensive items to help Ukrainians," Muratov said in a video published by Heritage Auctions, which is overseeing the sale but will not get any of the money. Last year, Muratov and Filipino writer Maria Ressa received the Nobel Peace Prize.

According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, there have been more than 7.7 million border crossings from Ukraine, with more than 5 million refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe since Russia's invasion in late February.

According to UNICEF, Ukraine's 7.5 million children have been severely impacted by the ongoing conflict, including being separated from their families, missing essential supplies and resources, and being exposed to the fear of explosives on a daily basis.

Muratov is the editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian media organization. According to the Nobel Peace Prize committee, he "criticized Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the government's use of armed action, both inside and beyond Russia."

Six journalists from the newspaper were killed, including Anna Politkovskaya, a vocal opponent of the Kremlin who exposed human rights violations in Chechnya. Following the invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin strengthened its hold on the country's independent media, CNN reported.

In March, lawmakers made it a crime to broadcast "fake" information about Russia's armed forces or to advocate for sanctions against the country. Some media outlets have had to close their doors and its journalists have had to flee the country as a result of the crackdown.

Novaya Gazeta announced in early March that it has deleted articles about the Ukraine conflict from their website owing to government censorship. Later that month, the paper declared that it would cease publishing until the conflict in Ukraine was resolved.

Who Is Dmitry Muratov?

According to the Nobel Prize organization's website, Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov was born on November 30, 1960, in Kubyshev, a Soviet area now known as Samara in Russia. He began his career as a journalist, working for newspapers until the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991. With several colleagues in the new Russia, he founded the Novaya Gazeta, a pro-democracy journal.

The publication has been critical of the Russian government under Muratov's leadership, highlighting corruption, fraud, and human rights violations. Six Novaya Gazeta journalists have been slain in connection with their work throughout the years. According to The Economist, their fatalities were caused by bludgeoning, gunshot, and poisoning.

Muratov has opposed Russia's military activities in the past, particularly the invasion of Crimea in 2014. Muratov has described Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine as "a tragedy and a mistake."

Muratov and Novaya Gazeta have recently worked to cover the Ukraine conflict, despite opposition. He was traveling by rail from Moscow to Samara in April when he was doused with solvent-laced red paint by an unidentified individual. Muratov was sent to the hospital for eye irritation, as per Newsweek.

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