Dmitry Muratov, Novaya Gazeta’s editor-in-chief, will auction his 2021 Nobel Peace Prize medal through Heritage Auctions, an American auction house. The bidding on the medal opens today, on 1 June (which is Children’s Day in many post-Soviet countries, including Russia and Ukraine) via the Heritage website.
Photo: Novaya Gazeta Europe
The bidding will last until 20 June when a live auction at The Times Centre in Manhattan on World Refugee Day will be held. All proceeds will support UNICEF's humanitarian response for Ukrainian children regardless of their current location, be it Ukraine, Russia, or any other country.
Muratov’s decision was backed by the Novaya Gazeta employees unanimously, he says. “We’ve been thinking a lot about this and we have concluded that there are so many people who go through much harder challenges than we do. I mean Ukrainian refugees and specifically children who suffer a lot these days. We have decided to help the victims of this war by giving away our most precious, most valuable property. So we have decided to auction this famous gold medal. It weighs quite a lot, to be honest. This medal is awarded to the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. All the money will go to the refugee children from Ukraine wherever they are now: in Europe, Ukraine, or Russia. This is the whole world’s responsibility to take care of them,” Muratov said as he spoke to Novaya Gazeta Europe.
“The effort to help those directly affected by this conflict is a worldwide appeal,” says Jim Halperin, Heritage Auctions' co-chairman. “Our role is to support courageous leaders such as Dmitry Muratov and his colleagues as they find inventive tactics for bringing relief to children hurt by this war." UNICEF also supported Muratov’s decision.
Muratov announced that he would sell the medal earlier on 22 March shortly before Novaya Gazeta was forced to suspend its work in Russia following two warnings from Roskomnadzor, Russia’s censorship agency. Muratov was subsequently attacked by an assailant who splashed him with red paint during his train ride to Samara on 7 April, leaving his eyes with a chemical burn. Muratov was named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People of 2022 on 23 May.
The number of refugees and internally displaced people has crossed the milestone of 100 million, propelled by the war in Ukraine and other deadly conflicts, Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said on 23 May. The Ukraine War has displaced 8 million within the country this year, and more than 6 million refugee movements from Ukraine have been registered.
