Dr Nishant A. Irudayadason

Professor of Philosophy and Ethics, Jnana-DeepaVidyapeeth, Pune.

Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov raised $103.5 million for Ukrainian refugee children by auctioning off his Nobel Peace Prize. Muratov won the Nobel Prize for Peace in October 2021 for his efforts to promote freedom of expression in Russia. Dmitry AndreyevichMuratov was born on November 30, 1960 in Kubyshev, a Soviet region now known as Samara in Russia, according to the website of the Nobel Prize organization. He began his career as a journalist writing for newspapers until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. In the new Russia, he formed the Novaya Gazeta pro-democracy publication, along with a few colleagues.

Under Muratov’s leadership, the newspaper criticized the Russian government, denouncing corruption, fraud and human rights violations. In total, six Novaya Gazeta journalists have been killed over the years because of their work. The causes of their deaths include bludgeoning, shooting and poisoning. During his time at the newspaper, Muratov criticized Russia’s military actions, including the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Regarding Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Muratov called it a “tragedy” and a “mistake.” The New York Times reported.

Muratov and Novaya Gazeta have been working to cover the war in Ukraine recently, although he has encountered resistance. In April, he was travelling by train from Moscow to Samara when an unidentified man threw solvent-based red paint at him. Muratov received medical attention due to eye irritation. Novaya Gazeta said earlier this year that it would suspend its online and print activities until the end of Russia’s “special operation” in Ukraine, after receiving multiple warnings from the Russian government about its coverage of the war. It is illegal in Russia to call the current conflict in Ukraine a “war,” “attack, or invasion,” according to CNN.

Muratov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2021 alongside Maria Ressa, a journalist campaigning in the Philippines. Muratov said he would donate about $500,000 in prizes to charitable causes. Earlier this month, he announced that he planned to make the price go even further. Muratov said he would sell the 23-carat gold Nobel Medal at auction in New York via Heritage Auctions on June 20, with all proceeds going to UNICEF to help refugee children from Ukraine. He said the sale would be “an act of solidarity” with the millions displaced by the Russian invasion, The New York Times reported.

The auction for the medal began on 01 June 2022, Children’s Day in Ukraine, and ended Monday night 20 June 2022, with a live auction and global broadcast at the Times Centre in Manhattan on the World Refugee Day, commemorating the strength, courage and perseverance of refugees. The prize was sold to an anonymous phone bidder for $103.5 million, exceeding expectations. Since its inception in 1901, there have been nearly 1,000 Nobel laureates honouring achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and the promotion of peace.

The highest-paid medal for a Nobel Prize medal dates back to 2014, when James Watson, whose co-discovery of DNA structure earned him a Nobel Prize in 1962, sold his medal for $4.76 million. Three years later, the family of his co-recipient, Francis Crick, received $2.27 million in auctions run by Heritage Auctions, the same company that auctions Muratov’s medal. Melted, the 175 grams of 23-carat gold contained in Muratov’s medal would be worth about $10,000. The ongoing war and international humanitarian efforts to alleviate the suffering of those affected in Ukraine are sure to spark interest especially when an anonymous buyer was willing to pay a huge price for the medal.