Russian journalist Dmitri Muratov, editor-in-chief of the Russian weekly Novaya Gazeta, has auctioned the Nobel Peace Prize he won in 2021 (along with the Filipino Maria Ressa). The proceeds were USD 103.5 million (EUR 98 million).
Muratov will donate the entire amount to UNICEF. The aid organization will use it for Ukrainian children who have been displaced because of the war in the country.
Muratov and Ressa were awarded the prize in 2021 for “their efforts to preserve freedom of expression”.
Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine at the end of February, the free press in Russia has been struggling. Independent journalism is almost impossible anymore. Many media outlets have shut down and many journalists have fled the country. In that context, Muratov spoke of “a media holocaust”.
At the end of March, Muratov stopped the activities of his newspaper. A week later, in Moscow, he was smeared with a corrosive substance.