Russian Nobel laureate sells medal for $103.5 mn to benefit Ukraine kids

Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov (R) reacts after a person makes a final offer of $103.5 million to buy his 2021 Nobel Peace Prize medal

Dmitry Muratov, the Russian editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, on Monday auctioned off his Nobel Peace Prize gold medal for a whopping $103.5 million to benefit children displaced by the war in Ukraine.

The medal was sold to an as yet unidentified phone bidder at the sale in New York organized by Heritage Auctions.

When the final bid came in, at tens of millions of dollars more than the previous offer, many in the room expressed shock, including Muratov himself.

Muratov won the prize in 2021 alongside journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines, with the committee honoring the pair "for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression."

This year, it became the only major newspaper left voicing criticism of President Vladimir Putin and his tactics inside and outside the country.

In April, Muratov was assaulted on a train when a person threw oil-based paint mixed with acetone on him, causing his eyes to burn.

When asked why he chose UNICEF as the recipient of the funds, Muratov said: "It's critical to us that that organization does not belong to any government. It can work above government. There are no borders for it."

Since 2000, six of Novaya Gazeta's journalists and collaborators have been killed in connection with their work, including investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya.

On Monday, he hailed the persistence of journalists as an important check on governments, and one way that war can be prevented.

Speaking in a video released by Heritage in connection with the sale, the prominent journalist said that winning the Nobel "gives you an opportunity to be heard."

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