Dmitry Muratov, a Russian journalist is set to auction off his Nobel Peace Prize for the Ukrainian children affected by Russia’s offensive, by donating it to UNICEF.
Muratov has already announced that he will be donating the accompanying $500,000 cash for charity purposes. Online bids have started on June 1 to make it correspond to International Refugee Day. Live bidding on Monday coincides with world refugee day. By the morning of Monday, the high bid was $550,000. The purchase price is expected to ascend into millions.
Muratov was a journalist for an independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. He was the publication’s editor-in-chief when it shut down in March in the wake of Russia’s onslaught in Ukraine.
Muratov who was awarded the gold medal in 2021, shared the Nobel Peace Prize with journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines. Both were honored for their battles to preserve free speech in their respective countries.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Muratov said he was concerned about children who have been orphaned because of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
The idea of the donation he said “is to give the children refugees a chance for a future.” “We want to return their future,” he added.
The most ever paid for a Nobel Prize medal was in 2014, James Watson sold his medal for $4.76 million which got for the Nobel prize of co-discovery of the structure of DNA in 1962.
Three years later, Watson’s co-recipient, Francis Crick, received $2.27 million in bidding run by Heritage Auctions, the same company that is auctioning off Muratov’s medal. Muratov’s medal would be worth of $10,000 by melting this 175 grames of 23- karat gold.
Muratov and Heritage officials said those who are not participating in the bidding can still help by donating directly to UNICEF.
